The Pervy Slug Princess and the Fox
by Awen Sofer
Summary: Reiki is the daughter of Jiraiya and Tsunade. She comes to the village of Konoha with her father for a little rest and relaxation. Instead she finds a headache in the form of cute blond. And of course her father. Original Character
1. Chapter 1

Reiki sank into the wonderfully warm water of the hot springs at the women's public bath house. She sighed deeply because the water felt so good to her travel weary, sore muscles. Her father would be arriving soon so she had precious little time to get in a relaxing bath. She was sure the bath house would be his first stop after arriving.

A loud disturbance outside caught her attention and that of several of the other women bathing. The voice of a teenage boy yelling the word pervert rang out loud and clear making several of the women shriek and run for their clothes. A hollow thunk that sounded like someone being flung against the wall of the building sounded right before the walls shook. Bedlam started inside from the melee outside the bath house.

"DAMN, OLD PERVERT! THAT'S ONE BIG TOAD!" The same young male's voice screeched.

Damn. Her father had arrived. Relaxation time is over. As the yelling increased outside, Reiki bypassed her clothes to wrap a towel around her body to run outside in hopes of doing damage control swiftly. She barely dodged a Ninja wearing small round lensed sunglasses who was flying through the air. Dropping to her knees and cursing because she was now covered with dirt, she checked him to make sure he was all right. He was alive but unconscious and would have a hell of a headache when he woke up. He also had a nosebleed but she was sure that was unrelated to his recent flight. Her attention turned to the males with the loud, arguing voices. One of them was her father. She watched in mounting horror as he literally drooled over the young blond girl in front him. Where had she come from? She had not seen that girl earlier. Maybe she had run out of the bath house in a panic since she was naked.

"Daddy, no!" Reiki screamed when her father reached for the girl. In a puff of smoke, a young blond boy appeared wearing a hideous orange jumpsuit with whisker marks and a big grin on his face. Whisker marks?

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, after turning his huge blue eyes on her.

'Are his eyes normally that big?' she wondered, staring at the boy. He was not much younger than her but he seemed really immature and childlike. She found herself smiling at him because he was so cute - in a puppy dog sort of way.

Naruto could hardly believe his eyes as he gazed at the half naked girl standing several feet away. She had the most enormous rack he had ever seen. It was obvious that she was a visitor because girls were not built like that in this village. His eyes moved up to her pink lips that were curled into a smile, then to her golden eyes that shone brightly as if they glowed. He saw that her white, platinum blond hair hung in two long braids that were now draped over her shoulders and hung across her huge –

"Ow!" he yelled when a hand came across the back of his head with a forceful slap.

"Don't stare at her like that," the old pervert admonished him.

"Aren't you being a hypocrite? Didn't you call yourself a super pervert?" Naruto asked, receiving another slap.

"Impudent little ass!" the white haired man yelled. "That's my daughter."

"Oh," he mumbled, rubbing his sore head while the words sank in. "Your what?!"

...

* * *

Reiki, now fully clothed, sat in the grass watching with unrelenting boredom the pervert and the blonde enduring their first training lesson together. It would be quite comical if they had not been at this for hours already. Apparently Naruto was tired of being soaking wet and she watched with open interest as he stripped down to his boxer shorts. A blush tinted her cheeks when she realized how she was ogling the boy younger than her. She could not help herself – it was her father's fault. Grabbing her backpack, she pulled out a scroll and pretended to read. She kept sneaking glances over the paper at the surprisingly well-built young boy. The little ball of energy stayed quite active and his body showed it. He had the potential of growing up to be a fine specimen of manhood one of these days. Embarrassment heated her cheeks again and she forced her eyes back to the scroll rereading the same line for the tenth time. What did it say? Her mind was having trouble comprehending it.

"Damn distractions," she muttered, unable to keep from looking when she heard a loud splash and howl of frustration. She smiled as the blonde sat in the waist deep water again, slapping at it angrily. Admiring his determination and his defined abdomen, she noticed the markings there around his belly button. Her father noticed them about the same time and crouched down in front of Naruto.

"Reiki!" her father bellowed, intruding on her racing thoughts. "Get over here and tell me what's wrong with this?"

Reiki waited for Naruto to walk out of the water and stand in the grass. She dropped to her knees in front of him, ignoring his sudden intake of air. Her fingers touched the warm, taut skin on his belly, feeling him tremble under her touch.

'Oh, god, I think I might faint,' he thought to himself. Glancing down, he watched her lick her lower lip as she concentrated on the symbols. He swiftly moved his eyes to focus on something behind her.

"Tell me," her father commanded her, having one of his rare, true moments of being a father and teacher.

"Okay, Let me see," she said, tracing the swirl patter from the outside in. "It's a damn mess and poorly done for one thing. Whoever did this either did not know what they were doing yet or were in a really big hurry. The seals are overlapping and diametrically opposed forces have been overlaid to hold something in but it disrupts the whole chakra flow."

'Blah, blah, blah. What the hell is she talking about?' Naruto thought, daring to look down at her again.

"Hey, annoying kid, raise your arms," Jiraiya instructed him, lifting his arms to point his fingers to the sky.

"Raise my arms?" he questioned, mirroring his new sensei's movements.

"Reiki, fix it," he directed her gently.

"What? OH, HELL!" Naruto yelled in pain when it felt like she had punched her fist through his abdomen. He dropped to his knees in front of her.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, kissing his forehead. "I know it hurts, but it will help. I promise."

Naruto felt hot and faint but not from the pain in his gut. It suddenly seemed worth the pain just for the kiss. His bleary eyes attempted to focus on her pretty face to distract him from the burning in his belly.

"Quit grinning like an idiot and get up, boy. Try again," the Pervy Sage commanded him.

Reiki jumped to her feet and hurriedly and walked back to her place under the trees. She watched Naruto feeling nervous and hopeful that he can succeed this time. The kid had loads of resolve and determination; she was sure that alone would get him far in his life. Biting her lower lip, her eyes were on his foot as he took the first tentative step onto the water. One…two…three…four steps. Great! He walked to the other side then started making his way back.

"I did it," he mumbled in startled happiness. "I did it! Hey, hey! I did it!"

Reiki covered her mouth to hide her girlish giggle as she watched the exuberant and elated blonde jump up and down on the water.

"Yes, Naruto. You did it," she said to herself, watching the spirited kid dance on the water.

...

* * *

"So what do you think of my new student?" Jiraiya asked his daughter later that night while they were eating dinner.

"He's a fighter. Energetic. Stubborn. He won't give up no matter how much it irritates you. I like him," she answered, poking at the rice in her bowl.

"How much do you like him?" he inquired, raising his eyebrows until they disappeared under his forehead protector.

"Not like that you hopeless pervert," she admonished him, laying down her chopsticks. "He's just a kid."

"And you're such an old lady. A jaded world traveler who is mature beyond her years," her father spoke with a lilt in his voice and a dreamy quality to his eyes. His dark eyes abruptly turned serious and his voice was low when he added, "And you're so full of crap, Reiki."

"Daddy," she whined, sipping her sake.

"Oh, for god's sake, the boy is only three years younger than you. You're only seventeen not seventy!" he exclaimed, chuckling at his solemn daughter as he poured them both more sake.

"Have you heard from Mama?" she inquired, rummaging around in her backpack for the last letter she received from her.

"Not yet. I did tell her we were coming here. You know she's from here don't you? She's the granddaughter of the first Hokage," he stated with a hint of pride in his voice. He still loved her even if they could not be together. He had loved her since they were kids, despite the fact she was once broken several of his bones and nearly killed him for peeping on her. It had been worth it to him.

"What is that weird little grin all about, Dad?" She pointed to his face, giggling. The sake was working.

"Oh, was I smiling?" He blushed.

"And now you're blushing."

"It's the sake, dear. Shut up and drink up."

"You miss her don't you?" she queried, finishing off her drink.

"Yeah. I do," he responded quite glumly.

"Daddy, what – "

"Reiki, don't ask. I don't want to talk about the past right now."

They sat in silence for a long moment before a blonde ball of energy careened into the room. Naruto slid onto the bench next to Reiki nearly knocking her off the end. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her next to him holding her body to his. His eyes met hers and they stared at each other without a word.

"Uh…um…I-I'm sorry. I didn't want you to fall off," he murmured, pink color creeping across his cheeks.

"It's all right. Thank you for not letting me fall," Reiki replied, her lips mere inches from his.

"Oh, damn, I'm in trouble," her father grumbled as he watched the blushing duo. He poured himself another cup of sake.

"I have to go," she announced, virtually disappearing into thin air she left so quickly.

Naruto glanced around in confusion. He felt the Pervy Sage's eyes boring into him before he turned around and met the man's fierce gaze.

"Don't forget. She's my daughter," he reminded his new pupil.

"Y-yes, sir." As if he could forget.

~\..'../~

* * *

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Jiraiya yelled in frustration.

Reiki patiently picked up the tadpole and made it disappear. Fifteen days of tadpoles and her father was about to lose his mind. So was she but she hid it better. Both of her parents had passionate and easily provoked tempers. She had made it a point to not be so hot headed and quick tempered. Her patience was wearing thin, however, with this little training exercise.

In a puff of smoke another orange and black tadpole appeared.

"NO DAMMIT THAT'S NOT IT!" Jiraiya hollered at the top of his lungs with aggravation.

"Well, you're the teacher old man! Teach me!" the equally frustrated Naruto shouted back.

~\..'../~

* * *

_Six days later…_

Jiraiya let out a loud barking laugh at the newest creation from Naruto.

"But it has legs this time! Just look!" the defensive blonde yelled, pointing at the adolescent toad he had summoned.

Jiraiya continued laughing loudly and uproariously even when the boy fainted.

"Oh, Daddy, be quiet!" Reiki fussed at him, kneeling down by his unconscious student while he attempted to get his laughter under control.

"The kid's got guts that's for sure. I believe that's the only thing holding him up at this point. He's got the nine-tailed demon in him and that much chakra is just too much for his little body. It can be released by overwhelming emotions or a heightened sense of personal danger. How can we – " He stopped talking all of a sudden and his eyes moved to his daughter.

"You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking," she snapped, crossing her arms over her breasts as if she could hide them.

"Oh, Reiki, please!" he begged shamelessly. "It will be the easiest and least painful way to stimulate the boy and get a reaction out of him."

"Are you sure it will be the reaction you want?" she asked incredulously and deeply offended. "You truly are a super pervert, Dad."

"Hey, kid! Wake up!" he yelled, nudging Naruto in the side with his Geta clad foot.

"Dad," she whined apprehensively.

"It'll be over with before you know it and you'll give this kid the boost he needs," he assured her.

Naruto moaned and sat up, glancing back and forth between them. He unsteadily stood up, rubbing his aching head.

"What happened?" he moaned feeling dizzy.

"You passed out, kid. No big deal. Suck it up and get ready," Jiraiya enthusiastically told him.

Reiki took Naruto's face between her hands, standing close to him. Her amber eyes gazed deeply into his azure blue eyes that seemed so vulnerable and innocent to her despite the rough things he had endured in his short life.

"Naruto, do you like me?" she asked, a dark blushing coloring his cheeks and warming his face in her hands.

"Y-yes," he stammered.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" Her hands slid down his neck and his blush intensified to a crimson red. 'I'm going to kill him. He's going to have a heart attack,' she thought to herself as her hands glided over his shoulders and down his arms. She took his hands in hers, lifting them with the palms facing out in front of him.

"Yes." He gulped hard eyeing his hands uncertainly, unsure of what was about to happen.

"Would you like to touch these?" she inquired, pressing his hands to her breasts before he could answer.

It was like setting off a firework. He released a yell that echoed through the forest and the blast of chakra launched him off the ground.

"Dammit, Dad. I hope you're happy," she muttered, stopping to glare at her father.

"I'm ecstatic. Thank you, dear," he rejoined, gazing up into the sky at the orange rocket.

"What do you hope to accomplish with this?"

"That boy is about to get in touch with his inner self in a whole new way. Or die."

"What do you mean?" Reiki asked apprehensively.

"What I mean is Naruto is going to have to access the power of the nine tailed beast within him or it's going to be one hell of a bad landing," he answered, looking at his daughter. "By the way, your sacrifice to the cause has been noted by the gods. You'll be greatly blessed."

"Yeah, right, you old pervert!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Follow him," Jiraiya ordered his daughter in a serious tone of voice. "I want you to follow Naruto around to see where he goes, what he does, who he's with…I want to know what he does when he's not training."

"Does it matter? Dad, really, what is the big deal? Do I have to do this?" Reiki whined petulantly.

She had been hoping to go explore Konoha on her own today. They had been here for months already for what was supposed to be a vacation for her to relax and for him to perform 'research' for his latest novel. Her days were spent mediating the arguments between her father and Naruto during their training sessions. She also played the role of assistant coach sometimes, taking over before her father gave in to the urge to kill the boneheaded ninja. They were all ready for a break before someone's sanity snapped. She had convinced her father to cut down the rigorous training schedule from all day every day to just a few hours every day so it would allow them all time to rest – and time apart. She needed time away from the aggressive and stifling testosterone zone created be the two males who dominated her life.

"Follow him," her father repeated in a no nonsense manner that warned her not to argue. "Hurry and you can catch up to him instead of having to search for him."

"Okay," Reiki muttered, hanging her head in defeat. "You don't have to go all parental on me. Yeesh!"

After blowing off that bit of angst, she was gone in a flash to catch up to the blond ball of pure energy. Despite her excellent training and extraordinary genes from two of the legendary Sannin, she still found it difficult to keep up with Naruto. His preferred method of travel was jumping from rooftop to rooftop. She would have preferred to walk the heavily trafficked footpaths that crisscrossed the village. Only occasionally and when absolutely necessary did he trek on those. She was able to take a speedy tour of the whole village just by following him. From the top of the Hokage monument to the guarded entrance gates, she saw it all in a matter of hours. He talked to friends, and he ate ramen at Ichiraku ramen stand. He visited the Hokage and made numerous stops to other places for no apparent reason other than to irritate the occupants. The kid was constantly moving which was wearing her out. By nightfall, she was beat and ready to quit her assignment issued by Jiraiya. Her father could just rant and rave all he wanted. He did not understand that her stamina was not up to his level yet. Naruto was a perpetual motion machine that did not know how to sit still.

Reiki was sitting on the rooftop of Ramen Ichiraku waiting for him to finish his third bowl of Ramen for the day. Unbelievable. How much of that stuff could the kid eat in a day? She could only pray to Kami he would be going home after this. Seeing his golden blond head appear from the cover of the ramen stand, she took one last deep breath and collected her last bit of strength to shadow him. She trailed him to a run-down apartment complex where she took cover in a tall tree to watch him cross the roof and swing himself into the window of the corner apartment on the top floor. Tomorrow she would come back to the apartment while he was training.

...

* * *

When Naruto arrived at the training grounds Jiraiya had designated for them, he found the lovely daughter of the Pervy Sage sitting on the ground in the shade of a tree dozing. He studied her from a distance at first before his tenuous grip on common sense broke, and he decided to creep a bit closer. Any idiot would know not to sneak up on the woman who had been bred and educated by two of the renowned Sannin, but Naruto Uzumaki was not an ordinary idiot – he could be a special kind of stupid. Skulking around the tree from the backside, he slowly made his way around the thick trunk to the sleeping beauty he intended to awaken.

"Reiki!" he yelled while jumping around to straddle her legs in a standing position. It would be a poorly thought out decision on his part that could have repercussions for generations to come.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" the terrified platinum blonde screamed, thrusting both of her fists forward. Not only was she strong to begin with, she had also released a burst of chakra from the shock of the rude awakening.

Naruto was knocked backwards through the air with the force from the chakra as well as her powerful fists contacting his genitals. He dropped to a heap on the ground, holding his throbbing, aching manhood while he coughed to dislodge his testicles from his throat where it felt she had shoved them. At this time he wondered if he would ever walk again much less have children.

"You dumbass!" Reiki screamed, hurriedly crawling to him. She cupped his cheek with her hand, looking into his tear filled azure blue eyes. The pain must be excruciating and there was only one thing she could do.

"Naruto, this is going to be weird, but I need you to trust me. Move your hands," she ordered him gently, stroking his whisker marked cheek. She felt like crying because she had hurt him.

"No, it hurts," he gasped, panting for air from the breath taking pain.

"Please, move your hands. Let me help," she murmured, running her fingers through his hair. She pressed her lips to his forehead, allowing her healing chakra to flow through her lips and act as an anesthetic to calm him. Feeling him relaxing and going limp beneath the soothing influence, she pulled his hands out of the way.

"Take a deep breath," she warned him, laying her hand over the affected area. It was strange, it was uncomfortable, and it made her feel like and incredibly big pervert but it had to be done.

Naruto moaned as the warmth enveloped him, immediately killing the pain. He closed his eyes concentrating on her silky white hair falling across his face as she healed him. It was challenging for both of them _not_ to think about where her hand was located and what it was pressing against.

"Reiki? What are you doing?" her father inquired apprehensively. He did not know what to make of the scene before him. The number one knucklehead ninja was on the ground with his daughter hovering over him, pressing her hand to his crotch. The only thing that gave Jiraiya some semblance of comfort was the fact they were both dressed and no skin was exposed. What the hell had they been doing? Or what were they about to do?

"I'm okay," Naruto croaked, finding the strength and desire to talk finally.

"In that case, I have somewhere I need to be," a red faced Reiki announced as she hopped up from the ground. She knew her father would never allow her to forget this moment despite there being a perfectly good explanation for it. She looked at the sweet faced blonde who was no longer in pain and told him, "You can explain this. It was your fault after all."

Naruto reluctantly turned his gaze to the angry white-haired man whose death glare he could feel was fixed on him. He gave him a sheepish grin receiving no response except for crossed arms over a broad chest and a stare so fiery he was surprised it did not set him ablaze.

"Explain."

The one word command from the Toad Sage set Naruto to stammering as he desperately tried to explain how he had gotten the man's daughter to place her hand on his private parts. "W-well, wh-what h-happened w-was…"

...

* * *

Reiki lowered herself into the apartment just like how she had seen Naruto do it. The smell attacked her senses first then the awful sight. To say his apartment was a disastrous and disgusting wreck did not do justice to the horror she saw before her. There was trash, half eaten food, clothes, and some completely unidentifiable things strewn across the apartment floor. A dirty mattress sat in one corner with a filthy blanket wadded up on top of that. She dreaded going to the kitchen where the worst part of the smell was coming from. Putting her hands on her hips, she looked around the grubby and just plain offensive apartment. Her father was going to owe her for this, and she would make him pay dearly. She understood why her father had gotten attached to the kid and had asked her to help him. Naruto had been alone for a very long time and needed someone. She liked him too, and he was bringing out a tender, motherly side of her she did not know she possessed. But this…glancing around the apartment made her want to cry and throw up at the same time.

After a quick shopping trip for cleaning supplies and other necessities, it took Reiki all day to get the apartment spotless. The kitchen harbored several science experiments, one of which she believed had developed into a living, breathing creature. The bathroom had been even more frightening than kitchen. She had bought new sheets, blankets, and even a pillow for his bed. By the time she was done, she doubted Naruto would recognize his own apartment.

Reiki sat down on the bed to rest. She would have to leave soon before he came home. Deciding she should test out the new pillow, she lay down and closed her eyes. Within mere seconds, she had dropped off into a deep, exhausted sleep.

...

* * *

"What is that sound?" Naruto asked himself when the horrible racket met his ears as he dropped into his apartment.

Looking around at the perfectly clean room, he was sure he had somehow gotten into the wrong place. How did that happen? The horrendous snoring echoed through the room drawing his attention to the corner where his bed now lay. The sound reminded him of the snorting of the wild boars in the forest.

"Reiki," he murmured, seeing her asleep on the mattress covered with clean white sheets. A new blanket lay folded at the top above the pillow. Had she done all of this?

Naruto took a few steps toward her sleeping form then paused. His hand immediately went to his still tender male anatomy. He would not sneak up on her this time that was for damn sure. Leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room from her, he watched her sleeping. It was difficult to believe this was the daughter of the big, blustery pervert who had become his sensei. His eyes drifted from her white hair over her pretty face, lingering a bit on her soft pink lips. She had kissed him several times with those lips. It had been on the forehead each time, but a kiss was still a kiss. His eyes paused at her large breasts that strained against her shirt with each breath she took. He licked his lips upon seeing the curves of ivory flesh that peeked from the V shaped neckline of her purple kimono style shirt. An ache of a different kind radiated from beneath his waist so he shifted his eyes lower. Unfortunately, that only made the agonizing desire worse because of her voluptuous hips and thick muscular thighs bared by the black shorts that were like a second skin. He was accustomed to seeing girls shaped like boards – flat and straight. She was everything they were not including being nice to him.

Reiki stirred, moaning lightly. Something had awakened her. She had that distinct feeling she was being watched which made her skin crawl. Rubbing her arms to rid her flesh of that prickly sensation, she opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling. Where the – oh, yeah, she had fallen asleep after the experiment in terror of cleaning Naruto's apartment.

"Hi, Reiki!" the endlessly active ninja exclaimed, his large, sapphire blue eyes filling her vision when he leaned over her.

"AAAAHHHH!" she shrieked, jerking to a sitting position and head butting him on the way up. "NARUTO! Do you have death wish or something?"

"No!" he howled, rubbing his sore forehead. Now he ached above and below. Opening one eye, he saw she was sitting on his bed massaging her hurting forehead. "I don't want to die, but I think you're going to kill me anyway. If you don't, I'm sure your dad will."

"Well, if I do it, it will be strictly unintentional and your own damn fault. Stop scaring me," she admonished him gently not wanting to talk too loudly because she had a headache. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to a standing position from the mattress.

"Are you leaving?" he asked, hopping straight to his feet from the kneeling position.

"No. I'm going to cook you something to eat. I would ask you what you would like to eat, but I'm sure it's ramen," she mumbled, staggering toward the kitchen in her half-awake state.

"Yeah!" he yelled, throwing his fist in the air. He followed her into the kitchen, perching on the counter beside the stove. "How did you know that?"

Reiki flinched, struggling for an explanation. 'I spied on you and followed you around like a stalker. That explanation will not do,' she reasoned in her head. Unable to come up with a plausible excuse, she decided to divert his attention, "Get your ass off the counter! I just cleaned that!"

"All right, all right," he muttered, hopping down. "Don't get your panties in a wad."

Feeling particularly vindictive, Reiki unnecessarily informed him, "But I'm not wearing any."

"Oh, damn," Naruto mumbled, heat rising to his cheeks. He felt faint as the blood rushed in opposing directions trying to fill two areas at once.

"Why don't you sit down and start chopping those vegetables for me? I even bought a little bit of meat to add to the ramen," she told him, giving him a sweet smile.

'I'd like to add some meat to something,' he thought to himself but kept his mouth shut because he had no idea how she would respond. It was debatable if she would beat him to a pulp or say something else naughty and flirtatious. At this moment he was afraid he would lose consciousness no matter which option she chose.

Reiki set the wooden cutting board along with the vegetables on the table in front of him and handed him the knife. She turned back to the stove to begin cooking the noodles. A content smile curled her lips as she lost herself in the preparation of the food. She wondered what it would be like to have a home and stay in one place longer than a few months at a time. It would also be nice to know what it was like not to be regarded with suspicion or ran out of town by the villagers when her father inevitably managed to piss off the wrong person. Some things she could never get accustomed to. She had a lot in common with the cute blonde who had inadvertently become such a huge part of her life. The thought of leaving him made her sad and ache with a physical pain.

"Reiki? Are you ready for this?" Naruto inquired, bringing the cutting board full of excellently chopped vegetables to her.

"Yes. Go ahead and put them in," she told him, moving back slightly so he could move between her and the stove. His hands began to shake from her closeness so she wrapped her arms around him, holding his hands to steady them.

Naruto could feel his whole body trembling from her large fleshy mounds being pressed against his back. She did not seem to understand that despite being younger than her, he had thoughts, urges, and desires just like any male. Considering who her father was, he would have thought she had a clearer understanding of men more than any other woman.

They ate dinner together at the small kitchen table that she had found under a particularly nauseating mess that had included the questionable creature. While assisting her with the dishes, he slid her several sidelong glimpses. Noticing how incredibly tired she appeared, he cleared his throat and dared to be bold despite the risk of bodily harm.

"Reiki, you can stay here tonight if you want to. I would be worried if you tried to make it back to your room at the boarding house on the other side of the village," he said, touching her hand as she passed the soapy bowl to him to be rinsed off.

Reiki was taken aback and offended until her golden eyes met the innocent blue eyes of Naruto. He was so sweet and cute. How could she dare to think she would be in any danger from him? He had made her an offer she could not turn down.

"If you really don't mind, that would be great," she answered with a smile.

At bedtime, they curled up on the mattress together with the sheet acting as a barrier between them. He lay on top of it under the blanket while she was safely ensconced beneath the thin cotton barrier. When he was sure she was asleep, he put his arm around her and held her close to him. If she knew what he was thinking in this moment, she would not view him as being quite so innocent or sweet.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you so much everyone for your encouragement to continue this story. The reviews, favorites, and subscriptions are really keeping me inspired. I can't promise updates will continue to be this fast, but I'm riding this train of thought as long as it keeps on going down the tracks so fast. I hope you enjoy the new installment. Thanks again everyone!

* * *

Reiki awoke with the cute blonde in her arms. At some time during the night, whether by choice or by chance, he had worked his way under the sheet and into her arms. She was not upset by this, but in fact was quite pleased. Then it happened. The unanticipated fleshly thoughts flooded her brain with an intensity and abundance that made her sweat. The images of the two of them she conjured in her head would have been indecent at any age but were particularly so at this time. She pure hated being the daughter of the Ero-Sannin because of this. Being passionate, sensual, and just plain horny was her legacy by blood. Thanks, Dad. Naruto had helped her tap into her motherly instincts yesterday. This morning he had put her in touch with her erotic instincts as a female when his body touched hers.

Reiki knew she should move, hurry up and get away from the temptation in her arms. She understood her father's voyeuristic tendencies. It excited the imagination along with the body, sending a delicious sensual thrill up the spine from the naughty thoughts. Sometimes it was fun to sit and think about what could happen and how it would feel. Other times it was more fun to touch and find out. Before she could stop herself, she experimentally laid her lips against Naruto's; they were soft and supple, compliant and innocent. She had unknowingly stolen his first kiss while he was asleep. Her mouth moved, puckering slightly, and he responded by pressing his lips back to hers. She issued a muffled cry of surprise, attempting to move out of his arms, but he tightened them around her. Oh, Kami, she had made a huge mistake. What the hell had she been thinking? Pulling her lips from his, she tried to push him away. His size and age betrayed the implausible strength he already possessed.

"Naruto," she whispered, shying away when he tried to kiss her again. "Wake up, sweetie."

"But I don't want to," he mumbled sleepily, successfully capturing her lips this time for a brief kiss. "I'm having the most amazing dream."

"Hey, Blondie, wake up," she provoked him, sliding her hands under his black t-shirt. She was not even out of bed and had committed two grave errors in judgment. Arousal made an ache form deep within her that caused her to squirm uncomfortably. Her fingers explored each defined abdominal muscle, tickling him slightly which made him giggle. This did nothing to deter her probing hands that moved up to his chest. Reason had fled to be replaced by the unadulterated lust that was driving her.

"I'm dreaming I'm with this girl I know," he began in a drowsy slur. "Reiki. She's so pretty and sweet and…"

Reiki blushed hotly from the unexpected flattery, tickling him again in hopes of bringing him to consciousness before this progressed further and took a turn that neither one of them anticipated.

"Stop it!" he whined, recoiling from her fingers.

"It's not a dream," she murmured in his ear, kissing his cheek. "I'm here with you."

"What?" His blue eyes popped open enlarging to a size bigger than usual with surprise. They met her golden eyes and the most beautiful shade of cherry red bloomed across his face.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?" she inquired with a smile.

For once, it was his turn to be caught off guard and shocked out of his mind. Naruto released a girlish scream that made her wince from the disturbing feminine sound emanating from such a cute boy. He jerked out of her arms, jumped to his feet, and disappeared to the bathroom. His retreat was punctuated by the slamming of the door, signaling he would be in there for a while whether it was from humiliation or dealing with other issues that might have popped up.

"Well, damn," Reiki muttered, rolling onto her belly. "I didn't think I was that frightening in the morning."

~..0..~

When Naruto finally emerged from his hiding place, she was asleep again. He was relieved that he would not have to face her quite yet because the embarrassment of his cowardly flight had not completely diminished. He wanted to do something nice for her to show his appreciation for cleaning his apartment. With any luck, that would disperse the awkwardness that was bound to ensue between them due to the intimate incident that had occurred. What could he do?

Iruka, his friend and former sensei, had taught him how to scramble eggs so he had at least one other option for meals besides ramen. The man had been the one person who had shown an interest in helping him besides the Hokage before the Pervy Sage and his daughter showed up. He had become like a big brother and something akin to a father figure, giving him knowledge he needed and advice that he hardly ever took.

Naruto was about to put part of that knowledge to use to cook breakfast for her. Maybe he should take her to meet Iruka. A grin spread across his face when he thought of his other friends. He had a few other people he would like to introduce her to as well.

~..0..~

Reiki awoke to an appetizing smell filling her nostrils. She came to complete wakefulness when she realized someone was cooking. Naruto? But how? Rising from the mattress, she walked into the kitchen to find him spooning the most deliciously fluffy looking scrambled eggs onto plates for them.

"Well, you're just full of surprises aren't you?" she commented, taking the plate he handed her with gratefulness.

Her stomach growled angrily at her, urging her to take a bite without worrying about any adverse culinary complications such as horrible taste or food poisoning. The taste was almost orgasmic in its intensity. She was not sure if was because she was so hungry or if they simply that good. Either way, she scarfed them down in record time and was very happy.

"That was really good. Who taught you how to do that?" she asked, taking her plate to the sink.

"Iruka," he answered, standing beside her at the sink. "I want to take you to meet him."

"Okay. I need to go to the boarding house to take a shower and get ready first," she told him, deciding to just leave the dishes until later. She was excited about the prospect of having a relaxing day without training and getting to meet some new people.

~..0..~

Naruto walked with her into her room at the boarding house where her father laid half on and half off the bed, passed out in a drunken stupor. He physically drew back from the awful smell wafting from the man who had indulged in too much sake and more than one woman considering the mix of perfumes filling the air. Even if Reiki had not declared they were taking the day off, he would guess there would be no training because of the old man's sorry state. It surprised him that she did not notice and just walked by, going straight to the bathroom to get ready. Obviously, this was nothing new to her. Sitting down on the floor by the window, he occupied himself with watching people pass by while he waited for her.

~..0..~

Reiki rebraided her freshly washed white blond hair into the two long braids that nearly reached her waist. She picked out a pink sleeveless kimono with a dark purple obi to wear over her short black shorts. Her mother hated it when she wore those and had tried to convince her to wear the mid-calf loose pants like she wore. But her mother was not here and had not been for several years. Tsunade had sent her to her father when she turned fourteen for further training. The last three years had been an emotional and physical ride of a lifetime between the rigorous teachings and getting accustomed to her eccentric and sometimes outright bizarre father. She had been angry at first; feeling betrayed by her mother and chronically embarrassed by her father. However, over time she was glad for the experience, especially getting to know her father. Once she was able to wade through the perversion and bullshit, she found a pretty awesome person underneath who she dearly loved. Nonetheless, he still harbored the talent for pissing her off greatly and humiliating her like he had this morning. It was mortifying to bring his pupil into the room to see him in that wretched condition. If she had only known…but oh, well. It would have happened sooner or later and Naruto already knew what an exceedingly great pervert Jiraiya was so why should the drunkenness and salacious cavorting be a shock?

~..0..~

"What did you do with my daughter last night?" Jiraiya inquired, opening one blood-shot eye. He saw two of the blonde dynamo swimming in his vision and was horror-struck until he realized it was because he was still half drunk.

Coming to the room late last night, he had stared at Reiki's empty bed. His fatherly disposition had instantly taken over, causing him to fret over where she was, what she was doing, and with whom. He knew she was a good girl and had fought the tendencies that he had unintentionally passed down to her just by virtue of being her father. The nagging thought kept creeping into his brain that one of these days she would give in to the impulses. He had questioned if that time had come. After waiting for hours enduring the crushing loneliness from her absence and near despair from wondering if she was doing something only he would do, he went to the local bar to get so shit faced drunk he had to crawl back to the room. He had not been expecting to wake up to find the number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja in his room.

"I didn't do anything with her, sir," Naruto answered anxiously staring at the humungous white-haired man as he pulled himself to a sitting position on the bed after exerting much effort.

"You expect me to believe that!" he shouted, leaning to the side awkwardly. Damn that stuff anyway. He had tried something new last night called whiskey, and it had kicked his ass.

Jiraiya shook his head to clear it so he could concentrate on raking Naruto over the coals to find out what, if anything, had happened. He knew how he thought when he was fourteen and doubted the deceptively naïve blonde was any different. The kid had his daughter fooled but not him. He thought he had taught her better than that. It was possible she was just seeing what she wanted to see because she had a soft spot for the boy. He could see her weakness for him when they were training. She always held back and barely hit him with half of her strength and ability. Something would have to be done about that or neither one of them would learn anything. But at this time he had more pressing issues to worry about.

"Daddy?" Reiki called just as Jiraiya opened his mouth to say something else.

"Baby!" he exclaimed, attempting to stand up to immediately fall back down to the bed.

"Oh, Daddy," she muttered, rolling her eyes. She went to the bed and pushed him down to a laying position. After covering him up, she told him, "Why don't you just sleep it off? We will occupy ourselves today. Okay?"

"Okay," he agreed, forgetting about last night as sleep overtook him.

Reiki sighed contentedly with a grin of satisfaction on her face. That was so much easier than attempting to convince him why they should take a break today. Turning to Naruto, she pressed her finger to her lips to signal him to be quiet and waved him to the door. She swiftly followed after him and they were on their way to have fun.

~..0..~

Reiki shifted nervously from foot to foot after Naruto knocked on the door of the small brown house with a tidy front yard. She counted in her head as they waited. _Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two_… Apparently his friend Iruka was not home. She was just about to advise they should leave when the door opened.

The kindest, darkest brown eyes she had ever seen met hers. The man, who was only a few years older than her, shifted the stack of books in his arms and nearly dropped them. His dark brown hair was pulled up in a spiky ponytail. Those eyes that had captured hers were set in a darkly tanned, handsome face.

"Naruto, who's your friend?" Iruka asked, when he found his voice.

"This is Reiki. She's the Pervy Sage's daughter," he announced, apprehension crawling down his spine as Reiki and Iruka gazed at each other.

"Whose daughter?" he inquired, looking at his former student.

"Uh, I mean my new sensei's daughter," he corrected himself with a soft pink blush on his cheeks.

"Oh, I see. Nice to meet you," Iruka said, juggling the books to stick out his hand to her.

"Likewise," she responded, taking his hand.

Naruto eyed the pair with jealous suspicion as they held hands too long for a friendly handshake and did not break eye contact at all. He pushed his body between them, pushing their hands apart. "Well, we have to go and you look busy anyway so good-bye then!"

Reiki did not resist when Naruto took her hand and began leading her away. She still did not take her eyes off of Iruka.

"Well, actually I am. I'm reorganizing my library and getting next week's lesson plans together. Come back by sometime and we can have some tea," he said as Naruto pulled her down the dusty street.

"Nice meeting you!" she yelled back, giving him a wave. She snatched her hand out of Naruto's when Iruka's door was closed. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing," he lied, his envious eyes narrowed with fury. "He said he was busy, didn't you hear? Besides, there are more people I'd like you to meet."

They rounded a corner to see two girls standing there whispering. One girl had pink hair and looked distinctly like a fluffy sugary confection on a paper stick. Her expression of unreserved contempt and disgust when she saw Naruto made Reiki want to slap her. At first glimpse, Reiki could tell this girl was going to be the bane of some unfortunate man's existence someday. When she got married, the vow of till death do us part would become a goal for her husband so he could get some peace. The other girl had blond hair and a decidedly sensual look about her. She showed promise of being a well-paid prostitute in the future. The expression she wore was one of haughty disdain. Then their eyes turned to Reiki and filled with open resentment and hatred. She had unwittingly encountered the gossip queens of Konoha, and they had been busy whispering about her.

"Sakura, Ino," Naruto began the introduction, feeling more than the slightest bit of pride. "This is my girlfriend, Reiki."

"Girlfriend!" they exclaimed in unison, cackling like witches over a cauldron.

Naruto flushed with embarrassment. He had meant to say friend. But he had been thinking Reiki was a girl who was his friend. And he got all confused and well…damn. He had messed up and humiliated himself. It was not the first time today either. Shame crept over him as they continued chortling derisively at his expense. His shoulders deflated, and he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. A pair of arms slid around him just before he felt her lips on his cheek. Swinging his head to look at Reiki, he was treated to a smile and a wink before she looked at the harpies standing in front of them.

"I'm his girlfriend, so what of it?" she demanded, causing the laughter to cease immediately. Two pairs of eyes, one green and one blue, blinked stupidly at her in mute amazement.

"You can't be serious," the ninja of the cotton candy colored hair scoffed.

"Oh, I'm quite serious. I've heard about you," she said, recalling one of the many times Naruto had tearfully told her about the girl he was in love with. _This_ was her. What a tragic disappointment. She would have thought he had better taste than that. Her nose wrinkled and her lip drew back from her teeth in a snarl as she looked at the pink haired girl. This girl had cruelly rejected him on many occasions, even resorting to physical abuse.

"You have? Did he tell you how hopelessly in love he is with me?" Sakura asked, releasing a loud braying laugh afterwards implying her true identity of being a total ass.

"Yeah. As a matter of fact he did," Reiki answered, pulling him closer to her body. "But that was before he fell in love with me. So it sucks to be you because you don't have him to abuse anymore. He's mine."

"You can have him," the pink ninja countered, wearing a look of repulsion. Unfortunately, her big sea-foam green eyes told a different story with the hurt and regret on display for everyone to see.

"Like I need your permission," Reiki snottily retorted.

Miraculously enough, her blond companion had stayed quiet during the whole encounter. With open-mouthed astonishment, her head moved back and forth between the other two females as they bounced words back and forth. She was too busy taking mental notes to regale everyone later with the phenomenal story.

"Sweetie, let's go. I'd like a view with a few less bitches in it," Reiki remarked, kissing him briefly on the lips.

Naruto had to concentrate on controlling his chakra before launching himself into the great blue unknown again. That was a once in a lifetime experience, and he had not wanted it then either. He took Reiki by the hand and with a big self-satisfied smirk on his face started to lead her away from the other two. He happily left them to gawk at the backsides of him and his remarkable new friend. Happiness burst from every pore on his body, and he wished that she had meant what she said about being his girlfriend. Perhaps someday, she will be his.


	4. Chapter 4

Reiki sat at the edge of the huge bonfire looking around at each one of Naruto's friends while trying to remember their names. The one with the spiky black ponytail and bored expression is Shikamaru. The one who looks half human, half dog with the white puppy is Kiba. Choji is the fat one she was warned she better not call fat; it is the ultimate forbidden f-word in his vocabulary. Okay. The bitch twins, Sakura and Ino, ewww…she knew them quite well whether she wanted to or not. Bowl cut and big eyes is…what is his name? It is something strange. Oh, Rock Lee. Shino: the bug whisperer with the round sunglasses he wears even at night. The boy with the long brown hair and extraordinarily creepy eyes is Neji and the girl next to him is his cousin Hinata. She smiled at Hinata who blushed when she realized she was being watched. 'Wow, this girl really is scared of everyone, but she seems nice,' Reiki thought to herself. A familiar blonde came into view and her grin broadened at the mere sight of him. Suddenly she did not care who else was there as he walked toward her.

"Are you having fun?" Naruto asked her after he sat down on the ground beside her.

"Yeah, I am actually," she answered, leaning toward him.

Naruto inhaled the scent of her which was an alluring mix of her cherry scented soap from her shower and wood smoke from the fire. When her shoulder pressed into his chest, he pushed into her to hold her up while she reclined against him. He loved being so close to her. Apparently she liked it too by the contented sigh she emitted. After that flare of jealousy earlier and the way he felt right now, he believed he already loved her. Looking across the fire at the pink haired girl who had once been his greatest obsession, he felt nothing. Not the slightest twinge of a muscle when not too long ago he would go into a full body spasm with sheer excitement upon seeing her. He smiled back at the girl with the green eyes when she caught him looking at her and gave him a come hither grin. His hand went to Reiki's shoulder, massaging it gently before his fingers glided up her neck to her face so he could stroke her cheek.

Reiki's pulse sped up from his touch. She was watching the cotton candy ninja through her eyelashes as the girl stared at Naruto with a seductive look. Somehow she managed to hold back the malicious giggle that wanted to free itself upon seeing Sakura's crestfallen expression from Naruto's affection being lavished on another female. She turned toward him, placing her lips by his ear.

"Someone's watching you and she's not happy," she whispered, allowing her lips to graze his cheek when she pulled away.

"Yeah, I know," he responded in a hushed voice so the people around them could not hear. "I don't care."

Reiki bit her lower lip when her eyes met his. Her heart fluttered with the emotion she saw there. The most disturbing part was that it mirrored her feelings. Oh, no. This was not supposed to happen. They were meant to be just friends and nothing more. She held her breath as he reached up to brush away the loose hairs that waved across her face in the breeze.

"Naruto, I –"

"I think we should go," he interrupted her, saying what she was thinking. "We will have a long day of training tomorrow."

"Yeah. I'm sure my father will want to make up for the lost time from today," she muttered, sighing heavily. She felt weary already from the punishing work out he would surely put them through tomorrow.

Naruto jumped to his feet and reached down to pull her up. He was surprised and pleased when she did not let his hand go and held it firmly as they walked. They strolled in silence for a while before he had to ask the question that had been on his mind all day.

"Are you interested in Iruka?" he blurted, receiving a severe look in return. "I mean, the way you two were staring at each other and –"

"No," she answered bluntly, looking straight ahead as they walked. "I was only curious about that scar across his nose and cheeks. Did he tell you how he got it?"

Reiki immediately had the sick feeling she asked the wrong question when Naruto looked sad enough to cry. She reached out to touch his shoulder, visibly flinching when he turned his tear filled eyes on her.

"It was caused by the demon locked inside of me," he murmured, halting his steps. "It happened when the village was attacked by the nine-tailed fox. It killed his parents. And k-killed m-mine. Now that thing is a part of me. No wonder people think I'm a monster."

Reiki pulled him into her arms to hold him as the tears slid down his cheeks. Her father had told her the whole story of that day the village was attacked. She tightened her arms around him when his body shuddered with a sob. "You were a baby. There was nothing you could do to stop that. Their sacrifices, and yours, saved many people that day. You're not a monster. Think of the one within you as a tool, a weapon to be used to save even more people in the future. You can make it your comrade and not an enemy. You have to make peace with the demon so you can fulfill your destiny."

"Oh, yeah? And just what is that?" Naruto queried harshly, an unmistakable edge of bitterness to his voice.

Reiki placed her hands on either side of his head, forcing him to look at her. "You're destined to be the Hokage of the Leaf Village someday. Haven't you said that yourself or do you not believe it either? You're going to be the hero of the people. I want you to be my hero."

"Reiki…" he whispered, words failing him. He closed his eyes when she leaned forward to press her lips to his.

For once, Reiki was kissing him because she wanted to show him what he meant to her. It was not out of curiosity or to make some stupid girl jealous. She did it for him, to comfort him and to…love him. The startling admission in her own mind hit her like a bolt of lightning, leaving her stunned and confused. Immediately breaking the kiss, she gave him a shy smile. Concentrating on slowing her rapid breathing, she cleared her throat that had grown thick with the unexpected flood of emotions.

"There. Feel better?" she chirped in an attempt to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah. I do," he answered, giving her a quick embrace before letting her go. "I'll walk you to the boarding house. I don't want anything to happen to you."

'_I want you to be my hero,'_she had said. The words resounded again and again in Naruto's head, making his grin grow wider until he was sure it would split his face.

~\..'../~

* * *

"Hit me!" Reiki shrieked like a crazed howler monkey.

When Naruto stood there, refusing to attack her or even defend himself, she growled and rushed forward. Grabbing him around the waist, she picked him up and slammed him down on the ground. As the blinding pain surged through his back and his bruised lungs tried to pull in air, he blinked and coughed staring at the beautiful but deadly woman standing above him.

"Dammit, boy!" Jiraiya yelled, grabbing the front of Naruto's jumpsuit to pull him out of the ground. They both looked down at the bodyprint she had made of him in the soft earth.

"Attack me, Naruto!" she bellowed at him, her amber eyes wild and her hair falling down in her face from where it had come loose from her braids.

"No! I won't!" he hollered back, shielding his face when she ran toward him with her fist raised.

Reiki stopped with her fist mere millimeters from his nose. "If I had hit you, I could have broken your nose and shoved the bone fragments through your brain to kill you. Naruto," she murmured, pulling him against her. "You should have attacked me. At least defend yourself."

Naruto's shout of surprise was muffled when she shoved his head between her breasts while hugging him. So now she was going to resort to killing him with an erotic death by smothering him with her breasts? She was hot, sweaty, and dirty from sparring with him for hours, but all that was forgotten considering his current location. Disappointment flooded him when she removed him from his delightful prison so he could breathe in much needed oxygen. Her golden eyes held his and he felt like he would melt in their molten appearance.

"Don't let the fact that I'm a woman hold you back. You cannot withhold your attacks based on the sex of your opponent. There are some women that are even more deadly than men. Women also have other nasty tricks and ways to manipulate men. I'll teach you about those when you're older," she said, turning away from him to walk away a few steps.

"You will?" Naruto and her father both asked with unbridled curiosity.

Reiki ignored them. She remained facing away from them because she did not want either one of them to see that she was having difficulty controlling her emotions. Thankfully the tears mixed with her sweat to stay hidden and her face was red anyway from being so active. She was tired of hurting him and it tore at her heart. The thought of someone killing him was inconceivable and more than she could bear.

"What exactly were you planning on teaching him, my dear? It might be interesting material for one of my books," Jiraiya stated pensively, allowing his dirty mind to run amok.

Reiki threw her father a deadly look because he was being a super pervert again. She had noticed lately he seemed to purposely create situations that pushed her and Naruto together. He was still leaving most of the training to her while he sat under a shade tree yelling commands at them. She knew he was trying to teach Naruto that one day he might have to assault or even kill someone that he loves, to somehow get him past that hang up. The inability to attack a known and loved friend turned enemy had meant his defeat and near death with Sasuke Uchiha.

What her father did not know was the feelings his shenanigans had created between the Reiki and Naruto. Or was that part of a plan Jiraiya had that had nothing to do with training? Whatever his motives, he was pissing her off and wearing her out since they seemed to be getting nowhere with teaching the ultimate hardheaded ninja a damn thing except don't hit girls which was not the lesson at all. She flung her father another scathing glance to remind him she was positively furious with him.

Jiraiya had already taught Naruto the Rasengan technique which the amazingly shrewd ninja had finally managed to accomplish with the help of a clone. Naruto also knew how to summon Gamabunta which was a shock considering he was the Chief Toad who, until now, only her father could summon. She could beckon the smaller toads, mainly Gamakichi. Her father always told her Gamakichi appeared because they were a lot alike: they were both smart asses and that was why that toad was her favorite.

Jiraiya looked at the two young people and sighed. Maybe Naruto had gotten as attached to her as she was to him. He had not expected them to form a relationship so quickly. Perhaps he had made a mistake by allowing them to get so close. However, the boy had to learn to attack anyone who was threat to him despite how he felt about them. Emotions could be a deadly weakness in a ninja.

"Someday you might have to kill someone you love for whatever reason. You must be ready. Attack me, Naruto," she ordered, turning her back on him to walk away.

"No," he responded with determination.

Reiki whirled around slamming her fists to the ground. The move had been performed to release frustration as well as a burst of chakra under the ground. A bump appeared beneath the grass in front of her feet and raced across the ground toward Naruto. It increased in size as it ran toward him, moving under his feet to lift him off the ground before he was mercilessly planted into it again. A loud grunt then a receding hissing sound escaped him as the air was pushed from his lungs.

"Get her boy or she's going to kill you," Jiraiya warned, backing up a safe distance once the advice was issued. "Use the rasengan on her."

"That's your daughter! Are you crazy?" he growled at the old man who must have lost his mind. He jumped to his feet and tried to think of another way to disable her from attacking him without harming her. While he was busy thinking, she was getting ready to strike him again.

"She's tough. She can take it. Besides, if you hurt her, her body will heal itself. Now do it!" her father commanded, observing the almost frightening expression of deadly intent cross his daughter's face. He took a deep breath resigning himself to the fact that Reiki would just have to heal the stubborn kid after taking him to the very edge of his existence.

Reiki stared at the tenacious knucklehead ninja wanting him to make some show of aggression toward her. Gathering a small bit of oil in her mouth, she spit it coupled with a burst of flame to hurl a fireball in his direction. Despite the dreadful taste, she did it three more times in rapid succession to release more fire bullets aimed at him as he used his chakra to run up the nearby tree to escape the fiery projectiles. She glared at him when he jumped back down to the ground without retaliating. A howl of excitement escaped her when he made three clones appear.

"Now we're finally getting somewhere," she muttered to herself, lowering her body into a defensive position as two of them ran toward her. They kept her preoccupied while the third helped him form the rasengan.

"Are you sure about this old man?" Naruto asked his sensei who was watching with an impassive face.

"Do you what you have to do," Jiraiya instructed him cryptically, the scowl deepening on his face. He doubted the boy would be able to pull it off in the end. Hesitation to attack a known (and maybe even loved) enemy could prove to be his fatal weakness.

Reiki struck one clone with a kick to head, making him disappear in a puff of smoke. She tried to do the same to second, but he ducked her leg and bum rushed her to take her to the ground. The clone sat down on her chest, straddling her right below her breasts. He looked down at her with a mischievous leering grin on his face, raising his hands as if he were going to clamp them over her breasts.

"Damn little pervert," she snarled, grabbing him by the collar and shoving him off. Jumping to her feet, she swiftly stomped on his groin sending him into nothingness. A rush of wind caught her attention and she raised her head just in time to see the small blue ball flying toward her before it struck her upper belly.

Naruto gaped in disbelief as she was hurled backwards into a tree. He had thought she would see it and counteract it. Watching in horror as she fell to the ground on her back, he waited for her to move or try to get up. Nothing happened. He was terrified that if he had not killed her, she was critically injured. Shouting her name, he ran to her and dropped to his knees beside her. Lifting her head, he silently pled to Kami to make her okay. Alarm seized his gut instead of relief, immobilizing him, when her eyes popped open unexpectedly.

"Wrong move," she sneered, punching him near his temple to knock him out.

Once he was down on the ground unconscious next to her, Reiki curled into a ball holding her aching chest and belly. It felt as if half of her internal organs had been crushed. She coughed and blood spewed from her mouth but she was not concerned. She had suffered worse damage during her training with her parents and survived.

"Are you all right?" Jiraiya asked, kneeling down beside her to check her injuries.

"I'll be fine," she assured him, spitting up blood again. "He did very well, but he hesitated too long. If I had been actual enemy, I could have killed him easily. We don't have time to coax him in the middle of a battle to kill someone. Dad?"

"What, honey?" he inquired, feeling across her ribs. At least three ribs were broken, and he was sure one of them had punctured her lung considering the wet, gurgling sound of her breathing.

"I don't want anything to happen to him. He's too important to this village," she murmured, closing her eyes. She gasped when her father moved his fingers over another broken rib which sent a blazing pain through her body that prevented her from thinking much less talking. Panting from the pain, she breathlessly added, "He's too important to me."

"I know, honey. Just rest a bit and you'll be fine. Those bones are already healing. What about your lung? Is it easier to breathe?" he questioned her, more worried than he was letting on.

"Yeah. Check on him. I'm afraid if he gets too many hits to the head it might start affecting him adversely," she stated in a serious, troubled tone.

"How could you tell if it did?"

"Daddy!"


	5. Chapter 5

Reiki moved into Naruto's apartment after a few weeks had passed. Although it had happened gradually and had not been formally talked about, no one was complaining, especially not Naruto. Her father had even bought them a real bed which had warranted a suspicious glower from her and an ear to ear grin from Naruto. Jiraiya claimed it was a gift because the boy was doing so well with his training. She was apprehensive that it was a hint from the dirty old man. Each day when they arrived for the training sessions he would give each one of them a long look. She had no idea what he could be searching for. If there were outward physical signs that a sexual encounter had taken place, she was unsure as to what those could be. Her father truly was a hopeless super pervert.

~\..'../~

* * *

Reiki pretended to be asleep when Naruto finally emerged from the bathroom after his shower. He had been sweet enough to allow her to take her shower first so she had lain down in the bed to wait for him. She could feel his movements as he crossed the floor because he did not make a single sound that betrayed his being in the room. She had been teaching herself to sense his presence so he would never be able to sneak up on her again. For the last two weeks he had made it his greatest goal in life to frighten her as many times a day as possible. Her father had laughed it off and told her it was helping the rambunctious and loud blonde improve his stealth skills as well as his ability to anticipate the maneuvers of an unpredictable enemy. She was not thrilled with her new role of preparing him to use advanced covert techniques.

Reiki felt his breath moving across her lips while he balanced over her. He had astounded her by managing to get on the bed without her detecting it. However, she should have heard his breathing that he had not regulated and was coming in loud, quick inhales. Her pulse quickened when he moved closer and his body heat began to radiate to her skin due to his proximity, but he did not touch her. What was he doing?

Naruto studied her pretty face from her long dark eyelashes to her pouty pink lips. He wanted so badly to kiss her. It had been quite a while since she had kissed him. She looked like she needed a good night kiss so with that thought in mind he carefully fitted his lips to hers, pressing slightly for a gentle kiss. He rose up to gaze at her again, yelping in surprise when her amber eyes were open and staring at him. Sitting up a little too swiftly, he overbalanced and fell off the end of the bed. She startled him again when she slid off the bed on top of him to straddle his hips.

"You filthy little pervert!" Reiki accused jokingly, pulling up his black t-shirt with the big orange swirl on it. She looked down to see he was also wearing his customary white boxers with orange swirls all over them to match. Shaking her head at his choice of sleepwear, she grazed his ribs with her fingernails to tickle him. "What else did you intend to do to me while you thought I was asleep?"

"Guess you'll never know since you weren't really asleep," he retorted, pushing her over onto her back so that he was on top.

"Why you little…" She allowed her words to trail off as the wrestling match began in earnest.

They rolled back and forth on the floor in each other's arms, tickling one another mercilessly. The laughing ceased when she wound up on top straddling his hips once more. They both became disturbingly aware that more than his sense of humor had been stimulated by their play. Reiki tried to move off of him which only made her more conscious of his desire as it pressed harder against her.

"Don't move. Please," Naruto begged, placing his hands on her thighs .

"Naruto, stop. W-we c-can't," Reiki stuttered. She gasped when his fingers dug into her thighs to hold her down while he pushed his hips up. Sweat beaded across her upper lip as arousal flooded her like an overflowing fountain. She was afraid he was starting something she would not be able to stop.

Naruto studied her face as her eyes slowly closed and her mouth dropped open when he rubbed against her. He wanted her so much. Many nights he had lain beside her fantasizing about taking her clothes off and making love to her. Some nights he had even considered trying it while she was asleep. The thought of his immediate demise upon her awakening during the act had counteracted that temptation.

"I love you, Reiki," he murmured suddenly, shocking both of them.

"What did you say?" she inquired, blinking at him. His announcement had been as sobering as a bucket of cold water.

"I love you," he repeated.

"What do you know about love? I'm not even sure what love is," she snorted scornfully. Her eyes widened since she was unsure of what to expect when he sat up to be face to face with her. She cried out when he clutched her firmly by the upper arms using an almost bruising force while he held her gaze with a passion that made her tremble.

"I may not know a lot of things and many people think I'm a brainless idiot, but I do know what love is. I've lived long enough without it to recognize it when I see it. I love you. And I think you love me too," he told her with a certainty that even she did not possess. He pressed his lips to hers, holding her tightly around the waist.

Reiki's breath caught in a strangled gasp when he pushed his hardened member against her womanhood to remind her how much he desired her. Gliding her fingers through his hair, she pressed her forehead to his as she fought for control. "We shouldn't...we can't…oh, Naruto," she moaned when he continued to grind himself into her, making her resolve crumble.

"Please, let me…let me love you," he panted, placing his hands over her large breasts. It took every bit of control he had not to release when her nipples hardened against his palms. Her massive boobs were firm with just the right bit of softness for squeezing. They were perfect; just like her.

"Naruto," she whispered, thrusting her tongue through his parted lips.

Naruto backed away at first, surprised but not necessarily offended by her tongue being in his mouth. He pressed his lips back to hers waiting for her to do it again. When her tongue slowly slid between his lips, he groaned from the powerful arousal it provoked. He moved his tongue against hers, stroking it back in a sensual dance that was extraordinarily exciting. His body quivered beneath hers, and he realized he might not ever make it into her before he came.

A foreign sound floated to his ears that he did not recognize at first. Naruto strained to listen despite the distraction of Reiki discovering every nook and cranny of his mouth with that fabulous tongue of hers. He wondered what her mouth would feel like wrapped around his –

"What's wrong?" Reiki asked, when he ripped his lips from hers.

"Listen," he hissed, putting his hand over her mouth so he would not be tempted to kiss her again.

They both heard deep shaky breaths that sounded something like their own. It was the sound of someone who was sexually excited. Reiki carefully crawled from Naruto's lap, making her way to the window. She jumped up, pushing off the sill of the open window to hurl herself at the man standing outside. She shrieked when he took hold of her leg that collided with his head, and they both went tumbling downward.

"Reiki!" Naruto's voice met her ears as she was covered with a cold, slightly damp feeling.

Was she dead? She was no longer falling and had landed on something soft but cold to the touch. Sitting up to look around, Reiki realized she was sitting on the back of the colossal chief toad Gamabunta. Her anger blazed when she saw her father sitting next to her with a lascivious grin on his face. She was about to make her father wish he was dead. Slapping the grin right off of his face, she commenced with the shrieking admonition.

"Dad, you dumb ass degenerate! You could have gotten us both killed! What the hell were you thinking? How can you spy on your own daughter? Kami! Doesn't your kind of sick perversion have any limits?" she asked, standing up on the toad's great big head. She was about to kick Jiraiya in the head again when he raised his hands in surrender.

"I came to get you. We need to leave immediately," he informed her, rushing on when her face caved in and tears filled her eyes, "Go get your boyfriend. He's coming too."

"He's not my…oh, never mind," she grunted, hopping from the toad's head to the window sill. "What's the big emergency?"

"You're mother. She's in Tanzaku Quarters. We need to go save her from herself," Jiraiya explained.

"Dammit," Reiki muttered.

Tanzaku Quarters was full of extravagant gambling houses and her mother was a gambling addict. Her mother being there made as much sense as allowing her father to roam free in the red light district which was another famous, or rather infamous, part of Tanzaku Quarters. Reiki would have to put him on a short leash until they could find her mother. Once Tsunade was found, Shizune, her mother's assistant who was like a sister to Reiki, could help herd her mother. This was without a doubt going to be one hellacious mission that none of them would forget.

~\..'../~

* * *

Jiraiya had gone ahead of them riding Gamabunta to move faster. Tanzaku Quarters was a considerable distance from Konoha. It was imperative they get there as fast as possible before Tsunade ran up anymore debts or was found by creditors who were always searching for her. Her companion and helper, Shizune did great work protecting the Slug Sannin but one of these days both of them were going to run out of luck. Well, Tsunade never had any luck or she would not be in debt above her pretty blond head.

Reiki was progressing fast, staying ahead of Naruto. She had the sneaking suspicion the hyperactive ninja was keeping her in front of him on purpose, but she had no time to lecture him about being a pervert. She stopped suddenly which turned out to be a critical error when he slammed into her back, knocking her to the ground, and falling on top of her. She wriggled in an attempt to free herself from being underneath him. Her wiggling increased when she felt something poking her in the backside.

"Naruto! Get off!" she yelled, squirming around.

"Keep moving like that and I will," he commented, grabbing her by the hips and pressing into her harder.

"You're becoming quite the little pervert. You've been spending far too much time with my father. Get up!" she shouted, bucking like an angry horse but he held on tight. "We don't have time for this."

"Trust me, it wouldn't take long," he murmured jokingly, rolling off of her.

Naruto was glad for a break. They had been traveling nearly the whole day without stopping to rest. The fact that he had to watch her ass moving in front of him for hours on end had nearly driven him crazy. Last night had ignited his body to a whole new possibility of what their relationship could become. Moving, particularly at their rapid pace, was difficult with a perpetual erection. He was worn out mentally as well as physically. His imagination had been working overtime due to her being constantly in his view. Even he had his limits, and she had found them.

"What did you stop for anyway?" he inquired, watching her as she pulled herself to a standing position.

"There's a stream over there. Want to go for a swim?" Reiki asked, turning her back to him to walk toward the stream. She untied her shirt and began pulling it off.

"Wh-what are y-you doing?" Naruto stammered, his eyes widening when she stripped off the shirt. Although all he could see was her bare back, it was almost too much for him.

"I'm getting undressed," she announced as if he was unaware which he most certainly was not. She disappeared behind a tree to complete getting undressed.

Naruto gulped audibly when he heard the splash of her jumping into the stream. His body shook while he stood rooted to the spot. When he was finally able to budge, he took off all of his clothes before venturing near the stream. He saw her lying halfway on the bank on the far side of the stream from him. Her eyes were closed and her head was resting on her folded arms. Her body from the waist down was beneath the water. They had not yet seen each other naked despite being roommates. To be the Pervy Sage's daughter, she was very prudish.

"Jump in. I'm not looking," she assured him, keeping her head down and her eyes closed.

Reiki heard him hit the water with a splash then several more as he swam toward her. Opening her eyes, she looked into a pair of big blue ones that made her smile. She wondered if he would grow into his overly huge eyes that were the most amazing color. Reaching out to him, she traced the whisker marks on his cheeks. It was ironic really how the malicious nine tailed beast had found a home in such a sweet, loving child. If the beast had been sealed in a selfish, bitter individual with a propensity for evil like Sasuke Uchiha the possibilities of what could have happened were too terrifying to consider. The vengeful ninja had become the private bitch of that snake Orochimaru. She dearly hated that man, if one could dare to call him that, for what he had done to both of her parents who were once his friends. He betrayed them almost destroying them in process. Bastard. She guessed birds of a feather really do flock together or in their case, snakes with sharp fangs nest together.

Naruto moved closer to her when she seemed to get lost in her thoughts. It was not hard to see they were not happy thoughts as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. He leaned toward her, nuzzling her nose with his.

"Naruto," she sighed, smiling from his tender gesture.

"Are you all right?" he asked, tugging one of her braids that floated in the water behind her.

"Yeah. I was just thinking too much. It's a bad habit of mine," she sighed, inhaling sharply when his fingers moved across her back.

"You're father says a thinking woman is a dangerous woman. I would have to agree with him," he said, moving closer to her.

"Yeah," she giggled mirthlessly, splashing a little of the cold water across her face to wash away her tears.

Reiki turned to look at him to be surprised when he boldly pressed his lips to hers. She parted her lips to invite his searching tongue to taste her mouth. Turning toward him, she slid her arms around his neck as he held onto her waist. Jerking away from in astonishment, she cried out after he had pressed his body to hers and a certain part of his anatomy could not be ignored. The cold water did not seem to affect him much in suppressing his ability to get excited.

"Please, don't," he begged, holding on to her wrist when she tried to swim toward the bank.

"We can't do this," she told him.

"Why not?"

Reiki was unable to find a good answer or even a lame excuse to offer him. She moved back to him, kissing him gently. "I don't know what the future holds or how long we'll be together."

"You're with me right now. Isn't that good enough?"

Her father had accused her of trying to look too far forward into the future; to predict all future mishaps and heartbreaks so she could somehow prevent them. She was searching for something permanent in a temporary world. Why not seize the moment and grab the boy in front of her, who she had already given her heart to anyway, and make both of their dreams come true?

"Naruto, I – " Her mouth was covered by his to steal her words and then her breath as he kissed her. He took away her ability to hold back from him any longer with that kiss.

To bypass the awkwardness of their first time, they skipped the foreplay and went right to the main event. There had already been too much sexual frustration endured to indulge in the niceties of sex – those could be enjoyed during a future event.

Naruto moved her to the edge of the stream, pressing her back against the progressively sloping bank so that she was in a half reclined position. Hovering over her, he groaned when she took his hard member in her hand, stroking him a few times before placing him at the spot where he wanted to be. While watching her beautiful face, he slid into her gradually, savoring every inch of the journey into her tight, yearning body.

Reiki closed her eyes, enclosing his body with her arms and legs. If only some moments could last forever. The heart stopping excitement of her greatest desire being fulfilled coupled with the tenderness of his movements was enough to make her cry. She had wanted him; more than she would confess to him and definitely more than she would admit to herself. Her breath was coming in short sharp gasps as he moved within her sending pleasure coursing through her body. He had been a surprise to her from the first time they met, and he continued to amaze her. The present occasion was no exception. Leaning her head back to call his name from the pure bliss she was subjected to, she opened her eyes to look at him and was unable to take her eyes away.

Naruto's eyes were closed, his face covered with a relaxed expression of ecstasy as he moved inside of her. Tightening her inner muscles around him, his expression changed to being serious, almost pained, as he bit his lower lip to fight for control. Reiki slid her fingers through his hair that was already sticking back up in its normal spikes despite being wet. He looked older, more mature to her, giving her a preview of what he could become in a few years. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, pulling him down to her chest. Kissing his cheek, she placed her lips by his ear.

"I love you," she whispered, hearing his breath hitch. She moaned his name when his hips moved faster, increasing the stimulation of their bodies and pushing them closer to that mutually pleasurably goal of an orgasm.

"I love you too," he responded, thrusting into her hard with a grunt. He released into her with a shout when he felt her convulse beneath him during her climax. He continued to thrust spastically, completely emptying into her as her pulsating muscles milked him dry.

Reiki felt as if her whole body was vibrating with and electrical charge. Every nerve had been stimulated with the intense orgasm leaving her with a tingling, almost numb sensation from her head to her toes. It was incredible – _he_ was incredible. She covered his handsome tanned face with many little kisses, reserving the longest and most passionate for his lips. When he looked down at her and smiled, looking as happy as she felt, she understood that sometimes giving in to temptation was a very good thing.


	6. Chapter 6

"You did it, didn't you?" Jiraiya asked in an almost accusatory fashion. He wore a lecherous grin giving him the appearance of being perversely delighted with the concept.

"What?" Reiki returned, choking on her sake.

Unfortunately, the pretty pink blush that tinted her face answered her father's extraordinarily nosy inquiry. Her one saving grace was that Naruto had not arrived at dinner yet. She could have possibly been the first person to die of embarrassment had he been present during her father's indictment. Ignoring the curious black eyes staring at her, she filled her mouth full of noodles as a silent refusal to divulge any details of her sexual exploits. Her father really knew how to push the boundaries of decency to a place of relentless creepiness.

"You know it would really be great for one of my new books. If you would just tell me – " He put up his hand to block the chopstick hurled at him to keep it from poking his eye out.

"Hell no, you dirty old fart," she hissed, keeping her voice down since they were in the middle of a restaurant. "Honestly, Dad. Shouldn't you be using your time more constructively by like, I don't know, trying to find Mom?"

"After dinner, we can start checking out the gambling houses. It will be late and they will be at their busiest. I'm sure we'll find her in one of them," he said, draining his sake cup.

Reiki obediently snatched up the tokkuri to refill his cup. She smiled at him when he politely returned the favor and refilled hers. Glancing around to find Naruto, she saw his spiky golden head bobbing through the crowd to reach their table. Her heart sped up with anticipation when she could see his face and he smiled at her. She berated herself for being such a silly female and acting lovesick. However, when he sat down beside her, she gave in to her excitement over seeing him by giving him a long hard kiss that made people from nearby tables stare. Perhaps they wondered if one of the working girls had been employed to use the male Lolita to pacify some pedophilic fantasy from the voyeur leering at them from across the table. She really did not care what they thought.

"Awww, isn't that the sweetest thing?" Jiraiya joked mercilessly, completely enjoying the dark blushes that spread across both of their faces. "Go ahead and keep your secrets, Reiki. I'll just ask the boy later."

Naruto gave Reiki a questioning look while she glared at her father. He took her hand in his, squeezing it slightly. He was afraid she was going to kill the man from the murderous glare she was giving him.

"Finding Mom is not going to be the problem. Getting her out of the gambling house is what is going to be nearly impossible," she muttered to get back to the reason they were here. She downed the cup of sake in one gulp.

"Why don't we split up? You two can start at one end of the row of gambling houses and I'll take the other to meet in the middle," Jiraiya suggested.

"No. You're not sneaking down to the brothels to indulge in a little bit of 'research.' We're staying together. We have to find Mom," she reminded him as if he could forget.

Jiraiya was already dreading the reunion with his wife. They had never bothered to get divorced because there was no one else they wanted to be with anyway. Their relationship had always been passionate whether it be with love or hate toward each other. There had never been a middle ground between the two of them. They were always turned completely on or off where their feelings for each other were concerned. It had been a mutual decision to go their separate ways because they were better apart than together. However, they maintained the connection of their marriage between them because it would have been too hurtful and too much like admitting defeat to give that up. Whether it could be called stupidity or stubbornness, they could not fully let the other go. Reiki's arrival had been a shock to both of them but a pleasant one. She would be another common bond that always held them together. He stared at his daughter who reminded him so much of her mother. Sometimes it would tear at his heart being around her because she did look and act like Tsunade.

Glancing at his godson sitting next to her, he wondered how Minato and Kushina would feel about him choosing his daughter for their son. Considering the exceptional bloodlines and abilities of the kids, he would think they would be quite pleased. One of these days, Naruto would need a very strong woman to keep him reined in when he comes into his full powers. The boy showed the potential for almost limitless strength but control seemed to be an ongoing issue for him especially where emotions were concerned. The possible talents of the children they would produce boggled his mind. One of these days, the nine tailed fox demon would have to be passed on. What better way to find the perfect container than to breed it?

There were so many reasons it was important for Naruto and Reiki to be together. As he watched the two of them interacting, he was pleased that destiny seemed to be on their side in bringing them together. Jiraiya wished the timing had been better. With a deep sigh of exasperation, he resigned himself to the fact that fate was a bitch and had to throw a kink in the works somewhere. He did not look forward to the moment when he would have to tell them he would be taking Naruto away for further training. However, they had other things to attend to at the moment.

"Shall we get started?" Jiraiya asked, looking at the four empty ramen bowls on the table. When did those get here? He looked at the blonde who was busy scarfing down the fifth bowl. Oh, he should have known.

...

Reiki put her arms up in front of her chest as they worked their way through the crowd in the gambling house. She had learned the hard way that it was important she keep the girls covered otherwise she would be subjected to the occasional grope from a passing man. Apparently this must be the most popular establishment in Tanzaku Quarters. Surely her mother must be in here. Besides, they had checked out nearly every one of the buildings and turned up nothing so far. With their options dwindling and their apprehension rising, they plowed through the sea of people in hopes of finding her.

"Dammit!" a familiar female voice rang through the air managing to penetrate the dull roar of the multitude of people around them.

"Found her!" Jiraiya bellowed, standing at the doorway of one of the private gaming rooms. "She's losing…as usual."

"Daddy!" Reiki hissed, brazenly entering the room.

The men in the room gave her an appreciative stare while the women, with the exception of her mother, glared at her with annoyance. Shizune was standing next to Tsunade holding Tonton, her mother's pet pig. The woman's dark brown eyes lit up when she saw the girl who had been like a sister to her. She released the little pink pig who was snorting noisily and wiggling to free herself.

Reiki returned Shizune's smile, scooping up the little pig when she stood at her feet happily wiggling her little corkscrew tail. Sometimes she contemplated if the pig knew she was a pig. She acted more like a dog and sometimes like a human. She giggled as the happy little animal nuzzled her with her wriggling nose while snorting with satisfaction. The pig was more pleased to see her than her own mother.

Tsunade had not yet noticed the arrival of her daughter because she was too busy signing a marker to make her next bet. She had officially ran out of money so the cycle of mounting debt was about to begin once more to add to her already sizable IOUs incurred other places.

"Don't accept that," Jiraiya warned the man who was holding the marker for a substantial amount of money.

"Who are you?" the skinny little criminal demanded.

'How stupid is this man? Daddy could squish him like a bug under just one Geta,' Reiki thought to herself, walking around the table to stand by Shizune.

"Jiraiya! What the hell!" Tsunade yelled indignantly, standing up from her cushion at the table.

"What are you two doing here?" the woman with short chocolate brown hair asked Reiki. Keeping her eyes on the three individuals who were arguing, she prepared herself to step in if necessary to protect her mistress.

"We came to get Mom. How is she?" she inquired, handing her the pig. She was watching the adults carefully as well when tempers escalated significantly. Her eyes flicked to Naruto who was standing on the other side observing the debacle carefully. He was focused on the irate couple and appeared ready to attack if necessary.

"Good luck with that. The same…losing her ass as always. I swear that woman is incorrigible. She won't listen to reason," Shizune remarked. "Who's the cute little blond?"

"My boyfriend," she responded without thinking. The truth erupts when the mind is not guarding it and right now she was distracted by the trio of quarrelling people.

It seemed they were engaged in a circular altercation. Tsunade was yelling at Jiraiya for interfering, Jiraiya was shouting at the loan shark about how much debt the woman was already in, and the crooked creditor was bellowing at Tsunade for the meddling of Jiraiya. They were causing quite an uproar and inquisitive onlookers began to pile up at the door and spill into the room.

"Oh, very nice," Shizune commented, looking him over appreciatively. "He's a little young don't you think?"

"But that's what makes him fun," Reiki answered suggestively, deciding she might as well enjoy it since she admitted he was her boyfriend.

Before Shizune could comment, Jiraiya picked up the greasy little man and hurled him through the shoji screen to the right of the door. She and Reiki both watched in stunned amusement when two burly goons burst through the doorway. Things were definitely getting interesting. Naruto tripped one while kicking the other one in the belly to send him flying back through the door. He yelped when the guy on the floor grabbed his foot and pulled him to the floor. Jiraiya and Tsunade were arguing with each other, totally oblivious to the physical battle between his pupil and a man three times his size going on behind them.

"Wow! He's something isn't he?" Shizune gasped when the small blonde ran up the man's over six foot tall body and kicked him in the face to render him unconscious.

"He sure is," Reiki sighed with pride. She shivered a bit when she recalled what else he had been shockingly good at as well.

More security gorillas were rushing into the room so the two women moved to herd the belligerent couple out of the door before another fight started.

"Reiki! When did you get here?!" her mother screeched, throwing Jiraiya a deadly look for bringing her daughter to a place like this.

"Nice to see you too, Mother."

...

Jiraiya and Tsunade were still locked in a tense and loud dispute when the other three decided to leave them alone in Jiraiya's room. It was no fun watching them yell at each other anyway and they were all getting a headache. Shizune returned to the hotel where she and Tsunade were staying while Naruto and Reiki went to her room next door. He was supposed to be staying in the room with her father but it was occupied right now and they doubted anyone would notice he was in the room with her.

Reiki lay down on the bed attempting to block out the sound of her parents' loud voices. Closing her eyes against tears, she gritted her teeth to endure the hurtful memories that bombarded her mind. She could remember her parents arguing like this when she was very young. Finally her father could not take it anymore and left. With no warning but an understandable reason, he took off one night to bring peace to the household although lasting emotional hurt came from his sudden disappearance. Her mother sought solace in the gambling houses.

Reiki had Shizune, her mother's apprentice, to help her through it. That was when their sisterly bond was officially forged and has never been broken by time or distance since then. She would like to spend some time with her friend soon to catch up and indulge in some girl talk. But right now she needed something else…another kind of comfort. Opening her eyes, she saw Naruto's blue eyes were firmly fixed on her face.

"It's really kind of scary when you do that, you know," she chastised him gently, rolling onto her side to face him.

"I don't mean for it to be. I just like looking at you," he responded, reaching over to take hold of her braid that fell across her chest.

Reiki felt her stomach lurch with excitement when his fingers innocently grazed the swell of her breast as he clutched her braid. Her eyes fluttered shut as he drew the tuft of hair at the end across her lips, tickling her lightly. She shifted uncomfortably when a craving started deep within her while he dragged the soft hair across her cheek. A sigh of excitement burst through her lips when he teased the skin of her neck into goose bumps with the delicate, tickling touch.

Naruto smiled with aberrant enjoyment by how the seemingly innocent gesture was affecting her. Dropping the braid over her shoulder, he allowed his fingertips to glide across her skin tracing the deep V neck of her shirt. His body responded by developing an ache between his legs as his member twitched and came to life while watching her breasts swell and recede over the material of her shirt from her heaving deep breaths. He untied the bow on her side, loosening her shirt. Greedily watching the material fall away from her body, he pushed aside the white silk that covered her massive breasts.

Reiki gasped as his finger traced delicate circles around one of her hardened nipples. She opened her eyes to look at him. His attention was completely on her breast as he brushed his fingers across the erect peak to make her gasp. She reached for him, sliding her fingers in to his soft blond spikes to pull him toward her.

Naruto stared at the large brownish pink nipple looming before him and stuck out his tongue to taste it as she pulled his lips to it. Her groan of approval when he licked over the stimulated flesh brought him to full hardness instantly. He moaned contentedly from deep in his throat as he sucked on the firm nipple to arouse her further.

Reiki seized the zipper on his jacket, tugging it to unzip it in one quick movement. She wanted him naked immediately so she could get her hands on him. She grunted with pleasure as he kept his lips glued to her nipple until it was time to take off his t-shirt. After pulling the black shirt over his head, she brought his lips to hers for a kiss while they worked on getting out of the rest of their clothes. Once he lay beside her naked, she drew him into her arms for another kiss. Her hands slid over his chest feeling each defined muscle while his tongue explored her mouth to taste her and amplify her arousal. It was working marvelously as the wetness trickled between her thighs making them glide across each other from her writhing in anticipation of having him inside of her again.

Naruto lowered his head to her breasts again, wanting to satisfy his curiosity and feel the firm nipples against his tongue once more. He licked and sucked the wonderfully excited flesh, reveling in every sigh or moan he brought from her succulent mouth. His hand glided down her firm belly before slipping between her thighs. He groaned with desire as his fingers were soaked from her wetness. His manhood throbbed with a painful intensity when he glided two of his fingers into her willing body which made her cry out his name.

Reiki clutched his shoulders, pushing her hips at his hand. She laid her knee on his hip, moving closer to him in an attempt to entice him to slide his member into her instead of his fingers. Her body shuddered with pleasure when he placed his thumb against the little appendage between her warm wet folds. She grabbed his face, moaning into the hungry kiss she gave him as he moved his fingers to massage her body inside and out. It felt so damn good, and she knew she would have an orgasm after just a few more strokes from his fingers.

"Naruto, my love," she whispered, placing her forehead against his lips as the ecstasy overtook her. Bucking her hips at him helplessly, she called out his name when the climax exploded from deep within and sent pleasure to the very end of her extremities. She whimpered and continued to move against him when the magnificent aftershocks of bliss wracked her body time and again.

Naruto removed his drenched hand, pushing her over onto her back. He buried himself in her hot, wet body with one hard shove that made of them both unleash a yelp of pleasure. He covered her mouth with his to stifle their noises of carnal bliss as he rammed himself into her body. They were both too excited for slow, gentle lovemaking this time. When her fingernails sunk into his tender ass, he howled in pain and sped up the movements of his hips. He was very close to his end and he hoped she was near hers as well.

Reiki let him go, sinking her fingers into the sheet beneath her. She was afraid she would claw him mercilessly if she held onto him. Pressing her lips against his neck to muffle her cries of pleasure, she felt him tense then begin to shudder as he thrust into her with spastic movements when he got lost in the throes of the orgasm coursing through his body.

"Naruto!" she yelled when he hit the right spot and reduced her to an uncontrollably squirming mass of orgasmic delight.

Naruto lay down next to her, watching her as her body shook and she struggled to breathe. He could not help but be quite pleased with himself for causing that kind of reaction in her.

"One of these days I'll get you back," she threatened breathlessly. "I'll make you beg for mercy."

'Torture me, please, my dear Reiki,' he thought to himself. That was a threat he could barely wait for her to make good on.


	7. Chapter 7

"Stop! Please, I can't take much more," Tsunade begged in obvious pain.

"Mama," Reiki gasped, awakened out of her sleep by the cry of discomfort from her mother. She pulled on a robe before hurrying to her father's room next door. Without knocking, she threw open the door and burst into the room. It would be a decision she would regret for the rest of her life.

Jiraiya and Tsunade were naked as the day they were born and in the middle of what appeared to be a very strange way to practice gymnastics or a very interesting sex position. Tsunade was lying on her back with her knees resting on her shoulders while Jiraiya lay on top of her with his arms hooked behind her knees to hold her in position while he thrust into her with abandon. How could a woman her age be that flexible? Oh, Kami! What could possibly be more psychologically damaging to a person than seeing their parents having sex?

"Oh, Kami! Please kill me," Reiki muttered as a request, covering her eyes and hurrying back out the door.

Some things that are seen cannot be unseen and that image would be forever be burned into her brain. First thing she would do after they returned to Konoha would be to seek Kakashi out to perform Genjutsu on her to erase her memory or possibly turn the memory into something else. What the hell else could _that_ be?

"What happened? What's wrong?" Naruto asked, when she returned to him, pale and shaking. Afraid something terrible had happened, he got off the bed to dress. When he tried to rush past her, she seized his arm.

"NO! Don't do that!" she yelled, pulling him back to her on the bed. "You'll regret it if you do."

"What? What is it?" he questioned, completely bumfuzzled at this time.

"They were having s-s-s…oh, Kami! I can't say it!" she exclaimed, pressing her face against his bare chest.

"Sex?" he inquired, regretting it when she loosed a deafening screech of horror.

"Don't say it! It burns!" she shouted, covering her ears.

Naruto could not stop the chuckle that rose in his throat and burst forth from his mouth. Even when she gave him one of her lethal glares, he could not stop the laughter from coming. As a matter of fact, her threatening expression only made him want to laugh more. Giving in to gut wrenching guffaws, he risked physical damage from the woman he loved.

"It's not funny," she muttered, kicking him playfully in the behind.

Reiki flopped back on the bed, closing her eyes and willing the image not to reform in her head. Despite knowing she was overreacting, she still could not stop herself. Wasn't it a good thing actually? Her parents were just having make-up sex after their twelve hour long argument. Oh, damn! She rolled onto her side holding her churning stomach.

"You're right. It's not funny. I'm sorry," he apologized, lying down beside her.

A few seconds later there was a knock on the door of her room. Reiki refused to answer it. She could not face her parents yet. The damage was still too new.

"Reiki, we need to talk," her mother called to her.

"I know, Mom. Just give me a minute," she replied.

"You're not going out there, are you?" Naruto asked her, giving her a hard stare.

"No," she muttered petulantly, rolling over onto her belly. She yelped when he administered a stinging slap to her firm yet tender ass.

"Get up. You need to talk to her," he said, ignoring her fiery glare.

"Make me," she dared him, confident he would not do a thing. She screamed when he rolled her over and lifted her off the bed in a bridal carry to take her to the door. "Put me down! Put me down!"

Naruto slid open the door with his foot, tossing her on her butt into the hallway where she landed at her mother's feet. He gave her one of his patent ear to ear fox face grins.

"Okay, you're down. Now talk to your parents," he said, closing the door behind him.

"I'll get you for that!" she shouted, rubbing her sore behind.

"Who was that?" her mother asked, staring down at her with dark gold eyes the rich color of honey.

"Your future son-in-law," Jiraiya answered.

"WHAT?!" both women shrieked in perfect harmony.

"We need to talk. Grab the boy, Reiki."

Reiki smiled devilishly. Naruto would not be able to escape a painfully awkward moment of his own. He was about to get to be formally introduced to his future mother-in-law.

...

They sat in the middle of the restaurant staring at each other in silence. The table was full of uneaten food. No one had an appetite after the messenger arrived with the news. He had appeared at the table just before they lifted the first bite of food to their lips. It was a message from Kakashi informing them that the third Hokage,Hiruzen Sarutobi, was dead. He had been killed by his former pupil and the third of the legendary Sannin, Orochimaru. Now they all had another reason to hate the bastard. This event made up Tsunade's mind for her, forcing the decision upon her; she would be returning to the Leaf Village with them. The other matters of importance that needed to be discussed involved Naruto and Reiki.

"We should all eat. We have a long journey ahead of us," Tsunade encouraged them, poking at the rice in her bowl. She was having difficulty finding her appetite as well.

"Mama," Reiki called, meeting her mother's sorrowful gaze. She reached across the table, taking her mother's hand in hers. She could not imagine the hurt her mother was feeling at this time, but it showed on the woman's face that she was in deep emotional agony.

Tsunade not only lost her beloved teacher, but she had endured yet another betrayal from Orochimaru. Her fingers tightened into a fist and she almost smashed the table into splinters to relieve her anger. Instead, she forced her fingers to uncurl and lay flat on the table. The fury still seethed beneath the surface of her sad, calm exterior.

Jiraiya could feel the rage emanating from his wife in waves of chakra that she released slowly to deal with the overwhelming anger. Unable to stop the pervert in him from rising to the forefront of his thoughts, he decided he would help her work off a bit of that anger later in a less than romantic sexual meeting that would probably be violent and horribly pleasurable. He looked at the two young people across the table deliberating what to do about them.

"After we return to Konoha, Naruto and I will be leaving to continue his training elsewhere. You can no longer help us, Reiki. It is imperative that he stay focused and not have any distractions. Not even you, Baby," he explained, trying to be as gentle as possible.

Reiki lowered her head, feeling her heart clench and beat hard within her chest. She was afraid it might stop beating altogether because it was breaking. He was being taken away from her.

"For how long?" she asked, swallowing the lump of emotions in her throat that threatened to choke her.

"I don't know. It depends on how quickly he learns. It's very important that he develop his abilities and powers as fast as possible. I have the feeling things are about to get very bad thanks in no small part to your friend Sasuke and his new master," Jiraiya said to Naruto without intending to be cruel. He was simply stating a fact, but it still hit Naruto like a kunei knife thrust into his chest.

Reiki moved her other hand to grab Naruto's that lay limply on the bench beside hers. She felt him move closer to her while firmly clasping her hand. Her eyes went to her Father's stoic face latching onto his dark black eyes. His eyes revealed the emotions he did not express on his face. She offered a weak smile to let him know she understood what he was feeling because she felt it too: the sadness, the anger, the confusion, the helplessness. It was as if their lives had suddenly been put on fast forward, and there was nothing they could do about it. They had no choice but to go with the momentum or risk being crushed, if not physically, definitely emotionally.

~\0/~

* * *

They were on their way back to Konoha. Naruto and Jiraiya were travelling ahead of them, not only to make sure the women would be safe from bandits, but also so they all could talk about the things they never had a chance to discuss before their swift exit from Tanzaku Quarters.

"Reiki, you know the plans your Father has for you and Naruto, don't you?" her mother asked.

"You know subtlety is not one of Dad's better qualities. I figured it out pretty quickly quite a while back. I don't understand why it's so important," she responded.

Since it seems she and Naruto would have wound up in an arranged marriage it was a bonus that they fell in love on their own first. Tsunade began a long speech about ancestors and bloodlines along with how the jinchūriki of Kurama locked within Naruto fit into the big scheme of things. The intertwining histories of the Uzumaki and Senju clans were expounded upon at great length. Naruto was destined to be Hokage especially since he would have one more tie to the position with Tsunade being his mother-in-law. She explained how everything was interwoven and connected in an attempt to make her daughter understand the importance of her union with Naruto. The Kurama had become their legacy and would need a new container someday. One of these days, that child would be expected to pass it along as well.

Reiki wished the trip back to Konoha was not so damn long. Her brain ached from the sheer amount of information her mother had been talking about nonstop for the past three days of travelling. She did not understand half of what had been said except that it sounded like some far out, hard to believe bullshit dreamed up by a bunch of old guys tripping on psychedelic drugs. Her mother could have saved them all a lot of trouble and a terrible headache if she had only realized her daughter loved Naruto and would marry him anyway just because she wanted to. Her mind was too muddled by the overload of information to consider all of the implications of what she had been told.

Naruto had received a much less intense lecture. Men had a way of simplifying things that women did not possess. He was basically told his Father, Minato, had sealed the nine-tailed demon inside of him when his mother was dying. It would be his job to protect and preserve Konoha as the Hokage after Tsunade. Due to important lineages and powers, it was essential that he and Reiki get married and have at least one child who would become the next host of the nine-tailed demon thereby protecting the village and everyone else. But first, to enable him do his job well as Hokage, it was vital they leave to further his training and abilities. This would also ensure his capability to maintain the beast and one day teach his child, the new host, to do the same. Short, plain, and to the point, he understood completely without enduring a headache.

~\0/~

* * *

Reiki's reunion with her mother had been all business so far. Her head still ached from the glut of information packed into it during her trip home. Her mother had bestowed upon Reiki the title of Princess that had been given to her since she would be the new Hokage. She was not sure what the significance was, if there was any at all, to the title. So she was the Princess of the Pervert Sage and Slug Summoner: the Pervy Slug Princess.

Naruto would someday be the Hokage so why did she need to know so much? _'Because as his wife, you will be his hidden strength and pillar of wisdom,'_ her mother had told her. Somehow she found it bitterly ironic that her mother was giving her advice on being a good wife but she had the wisdom to keep her mouth shut.

Reiki slipped into the hot spring next to Shizune, glad for a moment away from her mother. She and her friend had gone straight to the bath house upon arriving in Konoha while her mother and Jiraiya went to the Hokage's office to speak with the Elders about the funeral and Tsunade's transition to Hokage. Naruto had gone to the apartment to get a shower and a nap. After unwinding at the hot springs, she would gladly join him. She wanted to know what her father had told him on the trip home.

"Reiki, are you all right?" Shizune asked, when her head nearly slipped under the water.

"I'm fine. I'm just so tired," she mumbled, resisting the urge to yawn.

"I told your mother she should explain all of that to you little by little after the funeral. It could have even waited until Naruto left. You love him don't you?" the dark haired woman inquired, her brown eyes surveying the woman who was like her sister.

"Yes, I do. If Mother would have let me get a word in edge wise I would have told her. I don't care about all the specifics. As long as I can be with him that's all that matters. It's kind of romantic isn't it?" She smiled at Shizune a bit drunkenly since she was feeling very light headed. Pulling herself out of the water to cool off, she sat on the side kicking her legs in the steaming pool.

"What?" Her eyes remained on Reiki, watching her closely.

"I'm meant to be with him but we fell in love before knowing that."

"I suppose it is romantic."

"I'm not feeling well. I'm getting dressed and going home," she told Shizune, cutting their girl talk short. She dried off and dressed quickly, rushing home to be with Naruto.

Reiki smiled when she saw him sprawled across the bed snoring lightly from exhaustion. She pushed him over a bit so she would have room to lie down. As soon as her body touched his, he rolled against her and trapped her in a strong embrace.

"Are you awake?" she asked, receiving a mumbled affirmative. She smiled thinking that he was only kinda sorta awake.

"We're leaving the day after the funeral," Naruto announced, tightening his arms around her.

Damn. Her father was certainly not wasting any time on the matter. Reiki tried to ignore the loneliness and misery that pulled at her already. How would she live without him? She guessed there was a lesson for her to be learned as well; to be strong and stand on her own two feet without him while still loving him no matter what.

"I'll miss you," he murmured, kissing the back of her neck.

"I'll miss you too," she whispered, choked by the knot in her throat. She tried to hide the fact she was crying.

"Reiki…" He forced her to roll over to face him. "Look at me."

Reiki opened her eyes meeting the ardent gaze of his huge blue eyes that she adored. She held his sweet face between her hands, tracing the whisker marks with her thumbs.

"I love you. No amount of time or distance can change that," Naruto promised her. A smile gently turned up the corners of his mouth giving him his usual mischievous appearance. "Besides, we're meant for each other no matter what, remember? We can't escape our destiny even if we tried."

Reiki giggled through her tears because of his impish smile and ridiculous optimism. "I wouldn't want to escape it even if I could. I love you."

"I love you too," he returned, pulling her into his arms to kiss her.

Despite being worn out from their long trip, they slowly undressed each other. They had precious little time to be together and wanted to make the most of every second. Extra time was spent memorizing the texture of skin, the scent of hair, the gentleness of each tender touch. Every moan of pleasure and whisper of love was tucked away in their minds to be recalled at a future time.

"Naruto," she gasped, holding him tightly when he slid inside of her after he had completed a monumentally long and poignant exploration of her body.

Naruto held the gaze of her beautiful molten gold eyes as he moved in and out of her unhurriedly, wanting to remember every expression that flitted across her face while he made love to her. He kissed her when she could no longer keep her eyes open as she gave into the pleasure taking over her body.

Reiki clung to him while he kissed her senseless and filled her body with ecstasy. This moment would be one she would evoke to recall his tenderness and pure adoration. She was his and his alone and wanted to stay that way. Her eyes popped open to stare at him as he pulled her with him to a glorious end that brought a plaintive cry from her lips because of the physical and emotional passion of the moment. She covered his face with kisses to convey her gratitude and love.

They fell asleep locked together in a tight embrace. Over the next two days, they would endeavor to form a bond between them that would endure and hold them together for however long their separation lasted.


	8. Chapter 8

The funeral of Hiruzen Sarutobi was an event filled with tremendous pomp and circumstance but with reverence which was due the third Hokage. The procession wound its way through the village, trailing the coffin that was carried on litters across the shoulders of six strong men; three of them were Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Iruka. Tsunade, Reiki, and Naruto followed immediately behind the coffin. They were all wearing Mofukus (the traditional black silk mourning kimonos) for the occasion.

Reiki grabbed Naruto's hand, holding it tightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him hurriedly wiping away each tear that fell. She wanted to hold him so badly, to tell him it would be okay and that the pain would only last a little while. Her heart ached for both him and her mother. She was unable to grieve herself because she had never known the man. Judging by how they talked about him, he was a pretty amazing man and sensei in addition to being a respected and loved Hokage. The hurt from Naruto's friend and first mentor's death would cease eventually only to be replaced by a new one. Her fingers tightened around his hand when she pondered for the millionth time how long he would be gone and how she would survive that time without him. Using her other hand, she brushed away the tear that formed in her eye before it had a chance to escape and be seen.

Naruto saw it. He wondered if her tears were for Sarutobi or for his impending absence. Either way, he knew she had to be mourning with him and her mother because the man meant so much to them. His hand was going numb because she was grasping it so tightly. He squeezed hers a few times as a gentle request to loosen her grip or she was going to crush his hand. He would definitely need it for the upcoming intensive training. Heaving a noisy sigh, he hated to admit he was actually looking forward to learning more and being taught by the Pervy Sage. The only thing he dreaded was leaving her. Would it change how he felt about her? How would it change how she felt about him? Sliding her a sidelong glance, he resisted the impulse brush the long piece of white hair out of her face that she had missed when hastily braiding her hair this morning. They had slept late not only because of their fatigue from the trip but because they had also awakened many times during the night to kiss each other or indulge in another sweet physical union that left them breathless. Today was the last day to be with her because tomorrow he would be gone for who knows how long.

...

* * *

Reiki was still dressed in the formal ceremonial kimono of green and gold that she worn to the induction of her mother officially becoming Hokage. She had thought the ritual would never end so she could get back to more important things like Naruto. She loved her mother, and she could not be more proud of her for accepting the position as the new Hokage; however, time was a valuable commodity for her right now and she had none of it to waste on an unnecessarily ostentatious ceremony. Besides, her mother had groused and complained about having to attend the formal procedure herself so she did not feel too bad about her attitude.

Naruto had brought her to the Hokage Monument to watch the sunset. Making every moment count as the minutes ticked by like seconds, he wanted to make everything special for the next few hours. He watched her take off the heavy and uncomfortable kimono to reveal the skimpy and nearly see through silk slip she was wearing underneath. His eyes lit on her hard nipples pressed against the thin fabric. When she sat down next to him he was practically drooling because he wanted to suck them so badly. What would he miss about her the most? He would miss everything about her. His eyes slowly traveled the length of her body from her head down as she stood momentarily to regard the gorgeous sunset that was bathing her in shades of red, orange, and gold. She appeared as if she were on fire as he studied her in the glow of the red orb of a sun sinking below the horizon. There was certainly a burning within him as his eyes stopped momentarily on her bare ass sheathed in the almost transparent fabric.

Reiki turned to look at him but her mind was too filled with thoughts of what the next few years might bring to notice his desire glazed eyes gleaming in the subdued daylight. She sat down beside him, leaning back on her hands on the blanket he had brought with them. They were sitting on the great stone head of his father, the fourth Hokage. She was too enamored by the engaging end to the day to pay much attention to the arousal level of the salivating, horny beast beside her. A hand plastered itself to her breast, making her cry out in surprise.

"Naruto!" she exclaimed, giggling when she looked at his surprised and red face.

"But I thought you would…I just wanted to…I-I'm sorry," he apologized, lowering his hand from her breast and his eyes from hers.

"Don't be," she murmured, clutching his hand to bring it back to the fabulous globe of flesh. "Just give me a little warning next time."

Reiki pulled his lips to hers for the kiss she had been starving for all day. She kissed him tenderly, luxuriating in the sensation of his soft full lips against hers. A moan was stifled against his lips when he stroked over her hardened nipple with his thumb. Pulling down the strap of her slip and thereby removing the excessively thin barrier between his fingers and her skin, she pushed her breast into his hand to invite him to do what he wanted.

"Caress it, squeeze it, tweak it…I don't care. Just touch me," she begged, going in for a deeper, more meaningful kiss.

"People can see us up here," he groaned, massaging her breast gently with his hand to bring a sigh of pleasure from her lips.

"I don't care. Let them look. Most people are still at the celebration. There's too damn much booze for them to be watching two teenagers get it on. Besides, they would think it was an alcohol induced hallucination anyway," she muttered, rolling up to her knees. She pushed him down on his back, loosening the obi to push down the hakama he was wearing. Grasping his member in her hand, she bent down over him while licking her lips.

"Wh-what are you doing?" he stammered, staring at her with inquisitive blue eyes.

"Haven't you wondered what it feels like?" she asked, licking the head of his member. "Don't you want to know?"

"Oh, yes!" Naruto exclaimed when her hot, wet mouth covered the head.

Reiki licked the head again to retrieve the drop of fluid that glistened like a sweet treat beckoning her to taste it. Gradually taking him into her mouth inch by inch, moving all the way back up to head before gliding further down each time, she relished each moan from his lips. She could feel his body trembling as she slowly made her way down until she buried her nose into the soft blond pubic hair. Her body responded with a gush of wetness from the way he excitedly gasped her name when the head sank into her throat.

Naruto held her head still with a slight pressure from his hand on the back of her neck. If she dared to move right now he would explode in her throat and it would all be over. It was too soon and felt too good to end so swiftly. He distracted himself briefly with the task of making a clone appear behind her.

Reiki jerked away from Naruto, removing her mouth from him quickly when she felt a pair of hands on her ass that was up in the air from her position on all fours. Craning her neck to the side, she saw it was a clone and smiled with a wicked sensuality. What an interesting concept. She could have him in two ways at the same time. Being a ninja truly was a great thing sometimes. Her arousal grew when the second, cloned lover pulled up the slip to access her before expertly thrusting into her to make her cry out with ecstasy.

"What a delightful little pervert you are," she moaned to Naruto, lowering her mouth back down on him. Her excitement from the clone happily humping her drove her to suck and stroke him with a fevered vigor.

Naruto pushed his hips at her face, grunting each time the head bumped the back of her throat. His body tightened and warned him the end was near when she began releasing deep, guttural groans of bliss from the helpful clone that was screwing her brains out. He yelled her name when her hand slid between his thighs to rub an incredibly sensitive area at the base of his member.

Reiki pushed him down with her hand on his rigid belly because he was ramming himself into her mouth so powerfully. Her fingers slid over his balls to cup them in her hand which was tantamount to pressing a button to release the eruption of his seed into her mouth. She moaned from the exhilaration that coursed through her veins from his rhythmic grunts of ecstasy that coincided with each plunge into her mouth as he shot straight down her throat.

Naruto panted from the exertion, flinching occasionally from a burst of residual pleasure that would catch him unawares. He opened his eyes to watch as the clone pulled her to a kneeling position holding his hands over her breasts as he continued to drive himself into her. What would it be like to see himself make his girlfriend have a screaming orgasm? Considering her strained expression and loud wails of pleasure it appeared he was about to find out. It was a really weird experience so far but it was stimulating as well. She was absolutely stunning caught up in the passion that wracked her body. He went to her, kneeling in front of her to kiss and suck her breasts.

"Oh, Naruto!" she cried out, sliding her arms around his shoulders.

She buried her fingers in his silky blond hair, tugging slightly when he nipped her. The fleeting sting of his teeth grazing her nipple only heightened her ecstasy and brought her closer to an orgasm. This was more carnal delight than she thought her body could withstand. She screamed when Naruto's fingers brushed across the little lever between her lower lips that unleashed an orgasm of almost frightening intensity. Her body convulsed strongly as she was held between the bodies of him and his clone. She was helpless to stop the muscle spasms or the mind boggling bliss that overtook her in surges.

"Now, you'll never forget me," he whispered, covering her mouth with his.

Forgetting him had never been a possibility. There would be no way she would forget the blonde in her arms who had captured her curiosity and then her heart. He had gone further by arresting her body and making it his. She would never want anyone else. She was sure no man could please her like he did. There was no doubt in her mind that he was the only man she could ever love.

~\0/~

* * *

Reiki had gotten up earlier than their agreed time of dawn to prepare breakfast for him. She was unable to hold back the tears and allowed them to flow unchecked down her face as she prepared his food. Lost in thought, she did not hear him when he entered the kitchen behind her. She gasped when his hands slid around her waist, pulling her back against him.

"You can't cry forever. It's only a temporary separation. I'll always be yours," he murmured, kissing her cheek.

"And I'm yours," she promised, turning to face him. "I made your favorite despite the fact that it's breakfast."

Naruto kissed her, hugging her tightly. He was so full of crap. He wanted to cry because he missed her so damn much already. They both knew it was temporary but it was still going to feel like an eternity. He took the bowl of steaming ramen and ate it standing in the middle of the kitchen. He did not want to leave her arms that were loosely encircling his waist while she softly talked to him, giving him reassurance and courage for the journey he was about to take.

They walked hand in hand to Hokage's Quarters where Jiraiya was waiting for him. They could see that Jiraiya was kissing Tsunade as they arrived so they slowed their pace to allow a few extra seconds for them to say their good-byes.

Reiki would have been thrilled that her parents were getting along, at least for the time being, had she not been so wrapped up in her own impending good-bye to Naruto. She held him in her arms while she waited for her parents to finish their kiss. When they moved apart, she rushed forward to her father throwing herself into the arms of the big bear of a man. As much as he annoyed her and drove her absolutely bonkers, she loved him. While she was telling her father good-bye, Tsunade went to Naruto to bid him farewell.

"Do well. I love you because my daughter loves you. She has all the faith in the world in you. She knows the man you can become. Please, be that man for her," she said, the tears sparkling in her eyes.

Naruto could not help but smile at the beautiful woman who looked like the one he loved so much. He leaned forward to hug her because it seemed like the right thing to do. When he let her go, Reiki was walking toward him. The moment they had dreaded and stalled for as long as humanly possible had arrived. He kissed her briefly on the lips while drawing her into his arms and against his body.

"Do you love me?" he asked, sliding his arms around her waist.

"With everything I am and everything I will be," she sniffed more tears rolling down her cheeks. "You have to come back. You have to marry me you know. I'm yours forever and always. I love you."

"I love you too," he whispered in return, pressing his lips to hers.

Reiki felt more tears flowing down her cheeks but they were not all hers. Their tears mingled and trickled down each other's faces. Her arms tightened around him as she deepened the kiss to transfer her love to him as best as she could. It was if she was trying to give him enough to sustain for the next however long he was gone. She broke the kiss because breathing became nearly impossible from the strong emotions devastating her.

"I'll come back to you. It will be over with before you know it," he assured her.

"Reiki, Naruto," Jiraiya called. "It's time to say good-bye. It won't get any easier."

"I can't say good-bye," she bawled, her breath hitching noticeably.

"Then say until I see you again. I love you. Just think of me every day. I will be thinking of you without a doubt," he told her, kissing her briefly.

"I love you too. I will be right here waiting…until I see you again," she choked out in broken sobs.

Naruto reluctantly dropped his arms from her and backed away. He kept his eyes on her while unwillingly retreating.

Reiki forced herself to calm down, to hold herself together…to be strong for him if she could not do it for herself. She knew it would only make him feel worse if she gave into the tears and wailing she wanted to wallow in. She was furious but there was no one to direct her anger at because what was happening was for the good of everyone especially Naruto. The sorrow closed in on her with a tangible strength while he progressively faded from her vision to disappear into the thick forest that surrounded the village. Waiting a few more minutes before yielding to her emotions to make sure he would not see or hear, she dropped to her knees and released a grief-stricken howl that was reminiscent of the lonely wolves who stalked through the forest at night and bayed at the moon.

Let the waiting begin…


	9. Chapter 9

_Three years later…_

Reiki was sitting at her desk in her mother's office staring at the stack of promissory notes that had just arrived from creditors. She opened them but tossed them to the side because she did not feel like writing them down in the account book she was keeping of her mother's still rising debts. Allowing her head to fall forward onto the desk, it landed with a hollow thud which gained her the attention of her mother and Shizune who were talking about recent political upheaval in some village. She was not listening because her mind had been elsewhere. Her thoughts and attention was at the same place it always was: with a certain blonde whose absence still made her heart ache.

"Sweetheart, why don't you go for a walk? Just relax a bit. Naruto and your father should be returning any day now," Tsunade reassured her heart sick daughter. She had no idea when they would return but she said it to reassure herself as much Reiki.

The last three years had been hard on both of them. Since Jiraiya had left right at the beginning of yet another reconciliation between them, Tsunade had been feeling the same deep hurt as her daughter. She missed her husband and loved him; two things she had not felt in years. He could have at least had the decency to piss her off before he left so she would not be missing him. But no. Instead he had recaptured her heart, pulling her back into love with him. After a night of mind blowing sex, he then left. How typical. Shaking her head to rid herself of the thoughts, she urged her daughter again to leave for a while since she was still sitting there staring blankly at the wall.

"All right, Mama. I'll go. I'll be back later," she assured her, peeling her reluctant behind off the chair to leave. She was pondering the possibility that she was actually depressing her mother and that was the real reason she wanted her to leave. Either way, she should be happy for the break. The break she wanted was the end of the separation from her beloved.

~...~

Naruto could not believe how fortune had smiled down upon him. It could only be by Kami's divine intervention that he would find her here where they had shared an incredible moment on their last night together three years ago. He stared at her back as she sat with her knees pulled to her chest staring out over the village from the carved stone head of his father. The sound of her quiet sobbing met his ears. He smiled sadly but it made his heart soar to know she was crying for him three years later. There was no reason to make her wait any longer.

"Reiki."

Reiki lifted her head from her knees. She would swear she heard someone calling her name. The voice was deep, definitely male. Despite not recognizing it, there was a familiar rasp to it that reminded her of someone. Hearing it again, she jumped to her feet and turned. There was a tall, muscular blond man standing there. He had a broad chest and long legs, and he was clad in a black and orange outfit. The spiky hair, big blue eyes, and whisker marks gave him away. It was as if Naruto had appeared to her out of her thoughts. Dizziness swept over her causing her to stagger backwards only to find herself in his arms when he rushed forward to keep her from falling. His speed had improved astonishingly.

"Naruto," she gasped, pressing her hand to his face to make sure he was real and not a figment of her imagination. A smile graced her lips as she stared into those loving blue eyes that were still overly large for his face. Her body shook with anticipation as he lowered his marvelous lips to hers. Oh, Kami…

Naruto held her tightly, flattening her big breasts against his hard muscled chest. He would miss being shorter than her and being swept into her cleavage with each hug, but this was great too. He was taller, stronger and had become the man she needed. His tongue gently pushed through her parted lips to taste her. It had been so long. His moan mingled with hers as their tongues twisted and writhed together, familiarizing themselves with a deliciously erotic meeting. After re-familiarizing himself with her flavor and every part of her mouth, he pulled back to just look at her.

"You've come back to me at last. I'm so happy," she wailed, tears falling down her face.

Naruto only smiled and brought her head to his chest. Women could be some of the most puzzling and silliest creatures, but he loved her all the more for it. He inhaled her delightful scent of jasmine which made him slightly light headed. Kissing her forehead, he realized how he had forgotten that smell. He had missed her so much.

Reiki slid her hands up to his neck, rising up on her tiptoes to reach his lips. It was so strange that he was taller than her now. She restrained herself to a brief kiss so she could look at him. His cuteness had transformed in downright sexiness with his maturity. All of that training had hardened and bulked up the muscles that had already been packed on his small frame that was not so small anymore. She could hardly wait to get him naked to see exactly what his new body looked and felt like. Biting her lower lip and putting her hands behind her back before she began undressing him, she reminded herself they had other business to attend to at the moment.

"We should go see everyone. They will want to – " Her words halted in her throat when he backed away and unzipped his black and orange jacket. Her eyes studied him with a lascivious greed as he slowly took it off and dropped it on the ground. She could only stare in a stunned silence as he removed the black tank top he was wearing as well to reveal his remarkable chest and abs that were tanned a golden brown. Pressing her hand to her belly, she uselessly tried to force down the warm, tingling feeling of sexual stimulation that was spreading throughout her body.

"We should get reacquainted is what we should do," Naruto said, moving toward her.

Reiki closed her eyes when he untied the belt of her lavender kimono top. She reached out blindly, gasping when her fingers bumped his solid chest. Her palms flattened against his smooth but well-developed pectorals gliding downward to his abdominals that she delicately traced with her fingers. She inhaled sharply when his hands cupped her face, tilting her lips upward to his. While receiving a tender kiss, her hands continued to explore his body while his proceeded to do a little discovering of their own.

Naruto pushed aside the material between him and her breast to place his hand over it. Breaking the kiss to look at it, he verified that her breasts were indeed bigger.

"Damn," he gasped, pinching the nipple before grasping as much as he could in his hand to massage it. Her moan of pleasure caused him to come to full, aching hardness in an instant.

Three years. Three damn years without sex and without her and she thinks he wants to see everybody else in this village. Was she serious? Out of all the people who ever really cared about him one was dead, the other had beat his ass day in day out for the last three years making him into something he never dreamed he could be, and the other with was in his arms. Right now and probably for the first time in his life, he did not give a damn about anyone else and was going after what he wanted. He looked at her beautiful face as her eyes fluttered closed and her lips parted to release a sigh of bliss. It took everything within him to resist ripping the rest of her clothes off. He had dreamed about seeing her again for too long to allow this moment to pass.

Reiki permitted her hand to move further down his body as he fondled her breast to make her arousal build. Each squeeze of her breast or flick of her nipple was exciting her further. As her hand moved over the massive bulge in his orange pants, she realized how it was effecting him as well. This was not the romantic, sappy reunion she had envisioned. As his delicious mouth covered hers, she realized this was going to be so much better. She was being pulled behind the ridge of rock that was part of the hair on the humungous stone sculpture and would provide a hiding place for them.

Naruto picked her up effortlessly, sitting her on part of the stone that would bring her waist level with him. Keeping her lifted slightly with one arm around her waist, he pulled at the top of her pants, grateful she took the hint to assist him with removing them. Once they were off he put the soft material beneath her to protect her lovely and tender ass from the rough edges of the rock. He was unsure as to just how amorous he was about to get but it was bound to be reasonably ferocious. Stepping back slightly, he waited patiently while her shaking hands unbuttoned and unzipped his pants.

Reiki was so overcome with emotion and arousal she could barely function. She was finally able to push his pants down his hips, almost laughing when his stiff member popped up and bobbed like a cork. Her legs wrapped around his waist pulling him toward her as he positioned himself at her entrance. She watched his face as he slipped inside of her, easily skewering her dripping, yearning body. Her fingers traced the sharper, more virile contours of his face. Gone was his sweet baby face with the rounded cheeks and chin. It had been replaced by the face of a man, but a face she still recognized as belonging to the one she loved. Unable to keep her eyes open any longer, she squeezed them shut and cried out in ecstasy when she was fully impaled upon his magnificently hardened manhood. She enclosed his neck with her arms pressing her lips to his as he began to move inside of her.

Naruto wanted to slam into her with long strokes from head to hilt but instead slowly worked himself in and out of her, holding onto her waist. He returned her kiss, touching the tip of his tongue to her lower lip to coax hers out to him. His hands moved to her breasts to tease her nipples with gentle tweaks while he picked up the pace a little. Jerking his hips in a slow, gentle rhythm, he groaned when she bit his lip and thrust her hips back at him aggressively. If she wanted more, he would gladly give it to her. Tightening his arm around her waist, he braced his other hand on the rock behind her after leaning over her slightly.

"Hang on to me, Reiki. Don't let me go," he whispered shakily, pressing his knees into the sharp stone and ignoring the slight pain it caused. He was about to make both of them lose their minds and a little pain would be worth the pleasure.

"I will never let you go again. Oh, Naruto!" she exclaimed, when he started thrusting into her with reckless abandon. Leaning back so she could see his face, she was shocked by what she saw.

There was a faint orange glow around him. The white tips of his lengthened incisors lay against his full lower lip. When he opened his eyes to look at her they were red with an elongated pupil. His whisker marks had grown thicker, and he had a positively untamed, animalistic look to him.

"Don't be afraid," he growled allowing just a little of Kuruma's chakra to flow out of him.

"I'm not," she assured him, kissing him. She yelped in surprise and pain when his tooth nicked her lip releasing a tiny rivulet of blood down her chin.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean – " Rather than to continue babbling like an idiot, he pressed his tongue to the end of the blood trail that stopped at the edge of her chin. Licking upwards, he removed all traces of the blood. It shocked him that the taste excited him. He panted as he effortlessly pushed his body faster and more vigorously to further their pleasure.

Reiki bit her lip as he plowed into her. Her fingernails sank into his brawny shoulders. She hissed in reaction when he responded by digging his extended fingernails into her round, firm buttocks. The pleasure overtaking her body was almost more than she could handle. Opening her mouth, she unleashed a howl of ecstasy, holding onto him as the pressure mounted within her from her impending orgasm. What would it be like to have a chakra laced climax from a jinchūriki? She was about to find out. A prickly feeling akin to an electrical charge raced across her arms and spread throughout her entire body. Opening her eyes, she saw that the orange chakra had spread across her body from his, making them both of them appear as if they were engulfed in flames.

"Naruto," she gasped, holding the gaze of his red eyes.

"Do you trust me?" he asked in that strange gravelly voice.

"Yes, of course," she replied, tightening her legs and arms around him.

Naruto moved faster, making her scream as the orgasm was set off within her. He clutched her writhing body, sinking his teeth into her shoulder as he discharged deep inside of her. His hips thrust spastically as he filled her not only with his essence but also with small amounts of the chakra.

Reiki felt the powerful infusion and began to moan his name as orgasms exploded one after the other like bombs that had been detonated. The pain in her shoulder from his bite was unnoticeable because of the intense and overpowering bliss rushing through her body. She thrashed about begging him to stop because her body could not take much more of the ecstasy. Eventually the aftereffects of the chakra filled discharge he had deposited within her body stopped flowing through her. She was still clinging to him helplessly with tears streaming down her face as an occasional aftershock wracked her body making her shudder in his arms. She basked in the worshiping kisses he rained across her face and neck while holding her close to him.

"I love you," she whispered, briefly kissing his lips. "Welcome home, my darling."

"If I get a welcome home like that, I should leave more often," he joked.

"Don't you dare," she warned him, tightening her inner muscles around his softening member that was still inside of her. A playfully wicked smile spread across her face from his sharp intake of air and the pained expression of intense pleasure that crossed his face. She kissed him, feeling his beast within her twitch as it began retaking its rigid form. He was about to assault her again with a possibly deadly weapon, and she could hardly wait.

"I wouldn't. I'm not going anywhere."


	10. Chapter 10

_Two months after Naruto's Return_

"You know, if that had been any other woman it would have killed her," Shizune stated as dryly as possible despite wanting to giggle after Reiki told her about the special reunion.

"Yeah. But what a way to go," she returned, elbowing her friend and waggling her eyebrows. Both women gave into the girlish titters.

They were on their way to the bath house while Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Naruto finalized the plans for the upcoming wedding. Reiki, Shizune, and her mother had already planned everything; the men were just being told the specifics of what to wear, where to be, and when to be there. The level of impatience in her family was becoming a growing problem, but in this case, Reiki was happy they were in a hurry.

"So are you nervous?" Shizune asked, the strange prickly feeling of being watched making her skin rise into goose bumps.

"No. I'm ready for this. What's wrong?" Reiki inquired, when her friend grabbed her wrist and pressed her finger to her lips. Then she felt it: a sensation like ice water being poured down her spine that made her shiver. There was something decidedly evil nearby. Almost as quickly as she detected it, it disappeared.

"Did you feel that?" her companion queried, letting go of Reiki's wrist.

"Yes," Reiki gulped, glancing around apprehensively. What the hell was that? It was so powerful, so overwhelmingly malicious but then it was gone in an instant.

"What, or who, was it?"

"I don't know."

~\0/~

"Do you think he will show up at the wedding?" Tsunade asked Naruto who was deep in thought.

"I don't know. I can't tell if things are finally done between us or if he's waiting for the perfect time to strike to hurt me the most," the blonde remarked, staring out of the window of the Hokage's office.

Jiraiya noisily released a loud sigh thinking he would go with the latter since they were talking about the possibility of Sasuke Uchiha becoming the ultimate wedding crasher. He stared at the ceiling contemplating exactly how the evil asshole would decide to attack. Knowing the time he would strike was easy because the village would be left practically defenseless during the wedding. Everyone would be distracted with the ceremony then the huge party to ensue afterward. Unbeknownst to the blushing bride, the topic of security was the reason why they were having this meeting between the three of them.

The malevolent black haired bastard had been dormant for years, holed up with his chosen sensei who had promised to give him the ultimate power to not only destroy Naruto but Konoha in general. Once Sasuke discovered the truth that it had been the village as a whole that had turned against his family and called for their demise, he had extended his revenge to include every last villager. During the wedding would be the perfect time to exact his vengeance. He would do it all alone since there was no doubt he had become a one man killing machine and he was just that vain.

Jiraiya's eyes went to the blonde, staring at Naruto's back that was a little too straight showing his nervousness and his senses being on high alert. A smile spread across his face when he remembered the young man was probably feeling pretty edgy since he was about to become a husband. The grin quickly disappeared when misgivings invaded his mind about the boy's willingness to kill his so called friend. Without a doubt, Naruto had the ability to kill him but did he have the determination? Maybe under the right circumstances…thinking about those conditions made him shudder with fear. He did not like the extreme situation that would have to occur to make the boy desire to kill Sasuke Uchiha.

~...~

* * *

_The next day, The Wedding Day_

The village was already buzzing with activity for the wedding preparations. The ANBU members were already strategically positioned around the village to observe the coming and going of everyone to watch for suspicious activity. Kotetsu and Izumo were on their way to guard the front gates of the village, yawning the whole way.

Reiki lay awake watching the gray dawn give way to the golden streams of light from the sun. She did not sleep at all last night. Anticipation flowed through her body like a constant adrenaline rush making her heart beat faster and her body tremble. She was about to become Mrs. Uzumaki which was something she had been looking forward to for three years. The separation had not diminished their feelings but had only made them stronger. Her attention was drawn to her husband-to-be when his powerful arms tightened around her, holding her close enough that her breasts flattened against his chest until they hurt. Nuzzling her nose against his, she dropped a fleeting kiss on his lips that were pouty with sleep and hugged him back.

Tsunade got out of bed to get dressed to see to the final arrangements before the ceremony. She had been lying in bed for hours listening to her husband snore after giving him a lively sexual romp to put him to sleep. The 'sacrifice' had been necessary to save her sanity and his.

The normally calm and carefree Jiraiya had suddenly developed an attack of nerves about the wedding and the possible dangers surrounding it which had made him a babbling, worried wreck. He had also succumbed to the full impact of the knowledge of what it would mean to have Naruto as a son-in-law. Up until now he had just accepted that fact without thinking through the full implication of the new relationship. He would be giving his daughter to another man today to love her and take care of her. It would no longer be his fatherly obligation to take care of her and that had made him terribly sad.

Tsunade stood in front of the window completely naked, allowing the rising sun to help bring her body to life. She was not worried about being seen and if she was they would soon pass out from blood loss due to a bloody nose anyway. A sharp yelp tore from her lips and she flinched away when she felt a large warm hand on her butt.

"Come back to bed, honey," Jiraiya pled with her, caressing her creamy white and firm butt cheek. He had to admit that the transformation technique she used to keep her youthful appearance was worth the effort.

"I can't. There's so much to –" She was interrupted by him pressing his lips to hers.

"I know there's a lot to do, but I'll help you. I need you right now," he whispered, kissing her cheek.

Tsunade smiled. It had been years since he _needed_her. Her golden eyes met his dark ones and she allowed herself to experience that flood of feelings that made her knees weak and her stomach flutter. She loved him and always would no matter how many times he managed to piss her off in the process. Pushing him to the bed, she allowed him to take her with him and slowly drive her crazy with pleasure.

~...~

Reiki peeked out of the tent where Shizune was helping her dress. She could see Naruto standing next to her father on the platform that had been built just for the occasion. White flowers cascaded over the arbor above them like a waterfall of flowers. Her mother had done an outstanding job with the simple but gorgeous decorations. Biting her lip, she stared at the handsome blonde dressed in a traditional black kimono and gray and white striped hakama pants with a black haori over it all. The dark colors set off his sunny blond hair and cerulean blue eyes so nicely.

"Get over here!" Shizune hissed, pulling Reiki back by the purple sash she was trying to tie correctly around her friend's white wedding kimono.

"This is such a pain in the ass!" Reiki yelled meaning that quite literally as Shizune planted her foot firmly on her friend's butt to push her body and pull the sash to tighten it before wrapping it around her waist. "I feel like I'm wearing a hundred pounds of material."

"You are," she panted in return, tripping over the long white train of the dress. "Damn! I'm going to need a nap after this!"

"No time for that!" Tsunade exclaimed, stepping into the tent and clapping her hands as if the motivate the girls to get going. "Hurry up! It's almost time!"

"Mom! Couldn't we have just eloped?" Reiki whined, grunting when Shizune tied the bow too tightly.

"No. You're the daughter of the Hokage marrying a future Hokage. It wouldn't be…proper," her mother answered, unable to think of a real reason. She pulled the crown from behind her back to surprise her daughter.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Reiki gasped as her mother held out the six inch tall fan shaped crown encrusted with jewels to make it resemble the tail of a peacock. She bent slightly at the knees so her mother could place the crown on her head. Dismayed by the weight of it, she smiled at her mother anyway to show her thankfulness.

"Now, our beautiful blushing bride is ready," Tsunade said with tears in her eyes. She placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead, embracing her.

Reiki gasped but did not want to tell her mother that she was about to break her ribs. Chewing her lip, she endured the pain and inability to breathe, hoping her mother would let her go soon. When she was released, she inhaled a deep breath to give her lungs the air they craved.

"I love you, Baby," her mother whispered, backing away just in time for her father to take her place.

"When did you get here you big sneak?" Reiki giggled, kissing her father's cheek. None of them had been aware when the man had entered the tent. They were exceedingly thankful they were all dressed.

"Oh, you women are so preoccupied, you're easy to sneak up on," he joked, forcing a smile. 'And that's why we have security out the ass here today. Everyone is going to be unfocused,' he thought to himself, hugging her but being careful not to impart a bone crushing embrace like he was sure her mother had. "Are you ready? It's time for me to give away the bride."

Reiki could not stem the tears that fell down her cheeks. She was happy but there was an underlying sadness she could not shake. Her father would no longer be the most important man in her life. She would always be Daddy's Little Girl but he would be secondary to her husband. She knew that detail had to hurt him a little although he had made it apparent he was happy with the son-in-law he was getting; he had to be because he had taken part in arranging this relationship and the marriage. Smiling through her tears, she pressed her palm against his cheek.

"I love you, Daddy," she said, kissing his other cheek.

"Come on, girl. We gotta go make you a wife," he returned. If he said anything more he would be in tears too. It just would not look good for the Toad Sage to cry even if it was on his daughter's wedding day. He was a super pervert after all, and perverts don't cry.

~...~

Reiki smiled demurely at Naruto feeling a blush of happiness warm her cheeks as she turned the bowl full of tea three times before handing it to him. They were finally to the tea ritual part of their excruciatingly long ceremony. Why her mother had felt the need to make this an epic length event as if they were performing a stage play was beyond her. She bowed dutifully to him, holding the bowl up and waiting for him to take it. A stinging sensation that felt like a small burn erupted on the back of one hand before a loud '_tink_' sound caught her attention then she felt the same burning on the other hand.

"Reiki," Naruto gasped, staring at the kunei knife that pierced both her hands and the bowl between them. There was only one person who could have thrown that with enough strength and speed to penetrate both her hands and the bowl without breaking it.

Reiki stared at her hands in astonishment unable to understand what she was seeing. The overwhelming shock was keeping her from feeling the pain that had come with the injury. Before she could sort out her jumbled thoughts and establish that this was indeed reality, a shockwave from a blast of chakra that was like an explosion knocked most of the people in attendance unconscious and stunned the shinobi to slow down their reaction time markedly.

"Reiki!" Jiraiya yelled, watching in horror as Sasuke Uchiha seemed to materialize from thin air behind his daughter.

"Dammit, no!" Tsunade screamed when the black haired menace put his arms her daughter. All that time to put extensive security measures into place and her worst fear was being played out before her eyes anyway.

'Naruto, do something,' Reiki silently begged as her new husband gaped in awe, not even seeing her but meeting the gaze of the man behind her. She swallowed hard, closing her eyes to gather her strength. Pushing her hands together, she broke the bowl but unfortunately it also slid her hands along the blade of the knife. Screaming in pain, she shocked both men as if reminding them of her presence and broke their concentration from giving each other a death glare. Jerking one hand off of the knife, she followed through with the motion of her arm to use her elbow to try to break at least one rib of her captor who had released her when he was dazed by her ear-piercing shriek. Hearing him emit a loud 'oof,' she gritted her teeth and grabbed the handle of the knife to yank it from her other hand. She felt a hand grab the front of her kimono and looked up to see it was her husband who was about to drag her away from the intruder even though it meant pulling her across the table.

Ignoring her scream of discomfort as he hauled her over the table, Naruto literally pulled her from the clutches of Sasuke and shoved her behind him. The orange, flame like glow erupted from his tanned skin and he took on the animalistic appearance of his one tailed form. He did not feel like wasting any time getting rid of the asshole who had destroyed his wedding day, and he was damn sure not going allow that man to steal his bride. Forming a Rasengan, which no longer required the aid of a clone, he pushed it toward his enemy only to have it countered by the ball of shrieking birds and lightning called the Chidori. The power released by the two weapons impacting each other blew both men back in opposite directions. The thick poles on each end of the platform stopped their backwards flights; otherwise there would have been no telling where they would have landed.

"Get up and beat his ass! He ruined my wedding!" Reiki shrilled angrily, grabbing her husband by the haori to deliver a crushing kiss to his lips before setting him on his feet and shoving him toward the interloper. He might be taller than her and had harnessed the power of Karuma, but the fury of woman has no equal power. It's never a good idea to screw with a woman's dreams and one of the biggest dreams is her wedding day. Sasuke Uchiha had successfully fucked that all up and now he had to pay.

The Calvary arrived when the ANBU decided to show up at last to surround the intruder. Sasuke stared at Naruto who stood in front of Reiki to block her from his vision. A smirk tilted his lips making him look cocky instead of sinister. He ran his hand through his black hair, leisurely glancing at the masked elite shinobis surrounding him. His super black eyes returned to Naruto's blue ones, drilling into them as if he wanted to implant a thought in his adversary's brain.

"You better keep an eye on that pretty wife of yours. When I come back to kill you, I'll take her with me. I'd be more than happy to comfort the grieving widow," he said, a lascivious look twisting his face.

"Bastard," she growled through her teeth, stalking past her husband.

Naruto grabbed her by the massive bow covering her ass and held her up in the air to keep her from advancing. He had full faith she could whip the Uchiha's ass and as much fun as that might be to watch, it was his duty to protect her even if that meant from herself. Putting her under his arm protectively, he held her against his body as if provoking Sasuke to make another move toward her. The ANBU were ready to attack as were the numerous village shinobis who had regained their bearings and were standing prepared to advance if necessary.

"You should leave unless you want to die today. I alone could take you out without the help of anyone here. Are you ready for that?" Naruto challenged, pulling his lip back from his huge incisors that were protruding from his mouth.

"I found out what I needed to know," Sasuke announced ambiguously, disappearing by using the Body Flicker Technique he had used to appear.

Reiki felt Naruto lean on her in relief once the man disappeared. She turned to grab him just in time for him to sink to his knees. Grasping his haori in her hands, she sighed when he planted his lips to hers during the mass exodus of individuals who wanted to find the bastard who ruined the day's festivities.

"What's wrong?" she asked him when he broke the kiss to grab her hands.

"I've never been so frightened as when I thought he had you. Oh, Kami, your hands…what the hell…" He flipped her hands over to study the horrendous through and through gashes. They were no longer bleeding but they looked painful and raw since they were still wide open gouges.

"It will be fine. They're healing. It doesn't hurt," she lied, smiling despite the throbbing, searing pain in her hands.

"Reiki!" her parents exclaimed rushing to her to hug her.

Tsunade grabbed her daughter's hands, ignoring her hiss from the significant discomfort. She knew her daughter could heal herself but there was no reason to wait an hour for something she could finish right now. Enclosing Reiki's hands with hers, a blue glow emanated from between her palms. After only a minute, she had mended the wounds and any nerve damage associated with the injury. She felt that there was something else wrong… well, not really _wrong_ but different about her daughter's body when she was healing her. Pressing her hand to Reiki's belly, she bit her lower lip when she felt the life force of another presence within her. It was unmistakable and surprisingly strong even at this early date. Apparently their little reunion two months ago had been when the baby was conceived.

"Did you know?" Tsunade inquired, meeting her daughter's eyes that held no sign of surprise.

"I had an idea. I was not sure yet," she answered.

"What's going on?" Naruto questioned Jiraiya while keeping his eyes on the odd interaction taking place between the women.

"Hell if I know. I only know about the female body and how they work sexually. I have no clue about the emotional thing," he responded, getting nervous when both of the women began to cry. "Since they're crying, this is either _really_ good or _really_ bad."

"Reiki's pregnant," Tsunade informed the clueless wonders.

"Congratulations, boy. You got a two for one. Now, the hell, er, I mean the fun really begins."

Naruto almost vomited when Jiraiya slapped him on the back. The appearance of Sasuke Uchiha had been immediately wiped from his memory with this new revelation. A wife _and_ a baby…this was supposed to be the best day of his life, right?


	11. Chapter 11

Once the bit of excitement from the unwelcome guest was over, the reception had commenced with much wine and dancing but it was not as lighthearted and festive as it should have been. When the sun started going down, the guests began to disburse so the newly married Reiki and Naruto decided to go to their home. Jiraiya and Tsunade had commissioned a small cottage to be built for them in a secluded area at the edge of the village. It was their wedding present to the happy couple. Construction had just been completed yesterday and most of their belongings had yet to be moved in. A few precious necessities, including the bed, had been relocated from the small apartment to the house during the reception.

Upon arriving, they swiftly rid themselves of the wedding clothes and got into the bed. Naruto held her to his body, kissing her gently while stroking his fingers across her belly. Pushing her over onto her back, he trailed kissing down to her belly where he stopped. Pressing his cheek against her still flat belly, he lay still as if he were trying to make the shocking but wonderful news of the baby more of a reality.

Reiki stared at the ceiling while absentmindedly running her fingers through Naruto's soft hair. Her fingers drifted across his cheek, tracing the whisker marks that she knew by heart. She was preoccupied with the same thought her new husband was brooding over: Sasuke Uchiha must die. Guilt consumed her because she knew it was her fault that he held back during the confrontation at the wedding. She already knew what was about to happen. Her husband would spend the night with her and most likely be gone before she woke up because he would be en route to exact his retribution on the insidious snake ninja.

Naruto caressed her silky skin occasionally turning his head to kiss her belly. He could handle being threatened by the menacing asshole because that was nothing new. However, Uchiha had crossed a line that was unforgivable when he jeopardized the life of Naruto's wife and child. He had withheld from attacking his enemy and going at him full force because there were too many people around who could have gotten hurt. The main people he did not want to hurt were his wife and child. He did not want his wife to witness the carnage when he brought Sasuke Uchiha to his end. It would have to be a private matter between the two of them because he planned for it to be excessively brutal, bloody, and agonizing. This bullshit had carried on for years and it was time to end it. For once and for an eternity, he would show that he had always, ALWAYS, been stronger and better.

Naruto turned his head, kissing her belly again. His tongue darted out and circled her belly button before stabbing into it. Her moan and slight pull of his hair caused his body to respond with a painful ache from his swift erection. Although sex was nothing new to them, having it as husband and wife would be. He had already staked his claim to her as a life mate, the proof still showed on her shoulder, he was about to officially take her as his wife. But first there was something else he wanted to do. He kissed her belly again, lower this time just over her womanhood.

"Naruto!" Reiki exclaimed breathlessly, removing her hands from his hair as it brushed against her inner thighs. Her body trembled in eagerness of what was about to happen next. When his tongue thrust between her moistened lips to taste her, she bucked her hips at his face and whimpered with pleasure.

Naruto licked his lips, pushing open the damp pink folds to reveal her rigid little pleasure button. He licked it, smiling with slightly sadistic lecherousness when she yelped and jerked her hips. His member twitched and throbbed warning him he better get on with it then satisfy its need. Sliding two fingers inside of her hot, slick body, he covered the oversensitive piece of flesh with his lips and tongue. He nibbled gently as she screeched with pleasure and pushed her body at his mouth. Pushing her down on the bed with his hand flattened on her belly, he lapped up the juice that gushed from her aroused body. He wanted more so when her breathing began coming in shallow, irregular gasps, he suctioned his mouth to her, flicking the sensitive little nub with his tongue.

"Na-Na-Naruto!" she stuttered helplessly, shoving herself at him as she gave into the orgasm that flooded over her.

Reiki did not resist when he flipped her over, pulling her to knees. She bit her lower lip, moaning longingly as he pushed into her extraordinarily stimulated body. Her breath caught in a gasp when she felt his lips pressing to the bite mark he had left on her shoulder. She knew that had been the part of him that dwelled deep within leaving its mark on her. She sighed his name as he molded his body to hers, keeping his hip movements slow and rhythmic while he held her with one arm around her waist.

Naruto kissed her shoulders as he continued the erotic swaying of his pelvis until he felt the first stirring of his climax along his inner thighs. Moving his hands to her hips, he knelt behind her to begin thrusting into her intensely. He made sure not to hurt her by getting carried away but did not want to surrender much in speed or force. With a few more shoves, he yowled when he erupted inside of her. Once he was able to stop pushing himself into her fabulous body, he flopped over onto the bed while dragging her with him.

Reiki giggled with the joyous elation that comes during the afterglow of sex, and she had just partaken in really great sex with her brand new husband. What could be more exciting with that? She pressed her lips to his, wrapping her arms around his neck. Reality wasted no time in closing back in on her, reminding her of what the near future held for them when she looked into his sad azure blue eyes. She would not remind him of the promise he had made to her upon his return from his three year absence. There was more at stake here than his fragile sense of male pride. None of them would be safe until the scourge of Konoha was dead. Would anyone shed a tear upon his death? She doubted it.

"My one request is that you come back home in one piece, mentally and physically," she pled, forcing a smile to her lips.

"I will," he assured her, pushing her hair out of her face.

"I'll be right here waiting for you."

"I know."

~...~

When Reiki awoke the next morning, Naruto was gone just as she had expected. She pressed her hands against her belly to remind herself that their child was depending on her to be strong. Her husband was on the mission of a lifetime not only to ensure their safety but to bring an end to an ongoing grudge held between himself and Sasuke. Soon it would all be over.

~...~

* * *

Naruto stared down at the black-haired bastard who was sleeping peacefully and completely clueless to his presence. A malevolent smirk pulled at his lips. So this was the prodigy of Konoha, and he had been the bumbling idiot everyone made fun of? He did not plan on wasting a lot of time or energy on this. They had already engaged in epic battles, displaying their powers and abilities while destroying the landscape and sometimes people around them. Enough was enough and his time to die had come. But first…

Retrieving two kunei knives from their holders on his thigh, Naruto hopped onto the bed standing over his nemesis. He had already sealed away Sasuke's powers so he was comfortable with taking his time in doing this. He watched and waited while the man shifted beneath then settled back into a comfortable position with his arms outstretched at his sides with the palms down. 'Perfect,' he thought to himself, grasping a knife in each hand. Driving the knives down with all of his strength, he impaled each of the man's hands, nailing him to mattress quite literally.

Sasuke's eyes flew open along with his mouth which emitted a spine tingling and almost feminine scream of pain and fear. Naruto could not help but smile with a sick and disturbingly enjoyable satisfaction from the damage he had inflicted. This was better than using a Rasengan any day. It was definitely more personal. He had made the man feel the pain that he had inflicted upon Reiki with careless ease.

"It hurts doesn't it?" he asked, jumping down from the bed as his enemy grunted and writhed from the agony. "You really are a wuss. My wife cried less and made less noise than you are now when you did it to her. How does it feel?"

"It hurts you little fucktard. I'm going to kill you," Sasuke ground out between his teeth.

"No, you're not," Naruto laughed, retrieving two more knives from the holders. He skewered his worthy victim's feet, pinning them to bed as well. He watched with great satisfaction as the man thrashed about on the bed in a useless attempt to free himself. "Don't bother. See, I've learned some very interesting things. Sealing techniques was one of them. I knew I would use them someday. I just never imagined I would practice on you first. I'm tired of wasting my powers on you so I've decided to kill you the old-fashioned way after sealing away your powers. The great, powerful, and ever so awesome Sasuke Uchiha," he chuckled derisively, staring at fear widened black eyes.

Naruto could only imagine the terror and humiliation Sasuke was experiencing as the realization of his powerlessness sunk into his brain. That knowledge alone was highly satisfying. It had to be sheer torture for the power-hungry, revenge seeking bastard to know that he had been stripped of everything he had striven for as he lay weak and incapacitated, his life in the hands of the man he had humiliated and demeaned for years as useless, idiotic and a pointless waste of life. He smiled callously as fear filled black eyes met his cruel blue ones.

"If I had my powers, I'd – " Sasuke began only to be cut off.

"You'd do what?" Naruto demanded, pulling out several shurikens. "You wouldn't do a damn thing. I already defeated you when I snuck in here without you knowing. I'm dragging you off your pedestal, reminding you what it's like to be human before I kill you. It's only fair you experience some of the pain and suffering you've inflicted on others."

Naruto spun one of the shurikens around his forefinger before releasing it to lodge into Sasuke's chest. He could hear the soft crack of bone, muted by the skin and muscle, as the point stuck fast into the sternum. Throwing the others in rapid succession, he stopped when the man released a howl of torment from his physical anguish. There was something pure and healthy about going back to the basics, forsaking all of the overly complicated and life draining ninja skills. This was exhilarating, primal, and gratifying to gradually kill someone with unadulterated, raw strength and simple torture. Sasuke was not worthy of dying honorably like a shinobi.

This was what he had not wanted Reiki to see: his sadistic, brutal side that had manifested after making peace with the demon inside. The bringing together of himself and Kurama had come at a price but at the moment he was glad he had paid it. He was going to enjoy this.

Naruto ruthlessly removed the shurikens from his target, grinning harder with satisfaction from each wince or sharp intake of air that gave proof of Sasuke's pain and suffering. Taking out another knife, he scraped the blade across the debilitated man's cheek, slicing off a sizable piece of skin. He calmly ignored the mournful cries of the suffering man while doing so.

"If I took a pound of flesh for every wrong you've committed, I'd skin you alive and you would still have remaining transgressions to pay for," Naruto growled in Sasuke's pain riddled face.

"What the hell has happened to you? You've become some kind of demon," he muttered, glaring at the usually innocent and happy blonde. He did not know what this was that had gotten hold of the always kind to a fault blonde that evoked so much fear in him.

"Something like that. I just learned to coexist with one. Sometimes I let him take over a little more than I should. Oops," he stated insincerely, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

Naruto dug the tip of the knife into the man's skin over his ribs. With each hiss of agony from his victim, he pushed and twisted a little deeper until the tip stopped progressing, halted by the bone. Using the flat of his hand, he used a well place hit to the end of the handle to break the rib.

Sasuke bellowed like an injured bull, gritting his teeth before turning his eyes to Naruto. His body was beginning to shake in reaction to the excruciating pain wracking his system.

"You won't break me," he snarled through his teeth, spittle flying in all directions.

Naruto laughed. Loudly, maliciously, and ominously he laughed. "But I just did," he growled, thrusting the knife in up to his fingers. He had used extreme force, pushing it in past the hilt to bury part of the handle. It was only a matter of time. Which would Sasuke succumb to first? The pain or the blood loss?

~...~

Naruto lay on the floor panting. He was covered with blood and his body ached from his efforts. He had to get out of here. The first thing he had to do was rid himself of this horrid stinking blood that had begun to dry leaving him with a dirty and disgusting feeling from its stickiness and its source. After hauling himself to his feet, he averted his eyes not wanting to see the bloody mess on the bed that used to be Sasuke Uchiha. He would take the journey home slowly to work through the mental and emotional repercussions of what he had just done to fulfill his wife's one request. He would be forced to call on Kurama to help him deal with this, to purge himself of this murderous rage before returning home. In the end, despite the initial surge of satisfaction the Uchiha's death had brought him, he was left with residual anger that made him want to revive the man and do it to him all over again. But would that even be enough to sate his taste for vegeance?

"All right, damn demon, talk to me. Help me get rid of this," he commanded the spirit inside of him.

"So you think I'm subject to your orders now," the inner demon rasped in reply.

"Yes, I do," he responded confidently. He had to shield his eyes from the blinding sun as he walked out of the cave that Sasuke had called home. How long had he been in there?

"Four days," the demon answered the unspoken question. "You should seek food and water immediately as well as sleep. It is my power alone keeping you alive at this time."

Naruto did as the nine tails suggested although he knew the demon was only interested in saving himself. They were a symbiotic creature; one was unable to live without the other. He would do whatever it took to get back to the ones he loved even if it meant taking orders from Kurama.

~\..'../~

* * *

Reiki kept herself busy by organizing her home. Iruka and Kakashi patiently took her orders as to where to put the heavy items. Her mother assisted her as much as she could while still attending to her Hokage duties. Her father had disappeared recently citing the need to conduct research in a new place for his upcoming novel.

"How long has Naruto been gone?" Kakashi asked Iruka in a hushed voice to keep her from hearing.

"Two weeks," she answered, filling the bookshelves with all of the books Iruka had given her over the last three years. "I'm not deaf you know."

"Did pregnancy give you ears like a bat?" he retorted, grunting when Iruka's elbow caught him sharply in the ribs.

"Idiot," the darker man snorted, carrying another box of books to Reiki.

Reiki chuckled lightly at the two men. She enjoyed being around them because they were a great distraction. They were like a comedic duo when they were together. During Naruto's absence they had done their part in keeping her busy. Iruka had tutored her to expand her knowledge which unfortunately had been seriously lacking beyond her familiarity with erotic literature. Kakashi helped work her body (not like that) by sparring with her every day to assist with keeping her skills sharp.

"You can talk about Naruto around me. Hearing the stories about him from you two helped me get through three long years remember? He will be back soon," she declared, more to reassure herself than them.

The two men looked at each and shrugged. The usually reticent Kakashi launched into an especially lively retelling of the time he used the One Thousand Years of Death technique on Naruto. Soon he had accomplished his goal when Reiki gave up shelving the books because she was laughing too hard to stand up.

"I don't know which is more sick, Kakashi. Being the victim of that technique or being the one performing it," she chuckled, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Yeah, I agree. So which it is Kaka-doodle do? Did you enjoy it?" Iruka inquired, unable to keep the sardonic smirk off of his face as the other man glared at him lethally. He knew Kakashi hated that nickname because it disgraced his name and made fun of his spiky hairstyle at the same time.

"I don't know. Why don't I perform it on you and I'll get back to you on that?" Kakashi threatened, positioning his fingers in the proper formation to perform the technique.

"Hey, wait! I didn't mean…AAAHHH!" the man screamed as his friend moved toward him with humiliating intentions.

Reiki was once again reduced to guffaws and tears of amusement while watching the two grown men play like twelve year olds. A sound outside caught their attention and made them all cease any noise or movement. The door opened and Naruto stepped inside looking calm and collected as if he were returning from a long hike in the woods.

"Honey, I'm home," he announced, his gaze on his wife who was still sitting on the floor.

"Well, we must go now," Iruka proclaimed, grabbing Kakashi by his flak jacket to pull him to the door as they made a hasty exit.

"Good-bye. And thank you!" she yelled after them, getting to her feet.

Without a word, Naruto moved to her after closing and locking the door. He took her in his arms, kissing her passionately. It was great to be back home with her.

"Are you okay?" she asked, kissing the tip of his nose after rising up to her tiptoes.

"I'm fine. I'm really okay. _Everything _is okay," he said, gazing deeply into her eyes. He was trying to relay the message of the outcome without having to say it out loud. After she nodded to affirm that she understood, he pulled her close for a strong embrace.

Reiki held him, relieved that it was over and he seemed to have no lingering effects from it. She was glad to know he had finally dealt with an evil that had plagued him for years without becoming something foul and odious himself.

* * *

All right dear readers, I'm willing to issue a challenge here. If you did not like Sasuke's death, send me a detailed PM as to how you would have done it differently. If you rewrite the scene and it's really good, I'll consider editing this chapter and using your version. If I do, credit will be given to you in an author's note.


	12. Chapter 12

There will be time skips through this chapter to get through Reiki's pregnancy.

* * *

Reiki stared at her husband, absentmindedly rubbing her four months pregnant belly that had developed a round outward curve. She watched him as he toiled in the sun, sweat trickling down his well-defined chest and over his washboard abs. Biting her lip as he turned his back to her, she allowed her eyes to meander downward from the sweat soaked hair at the nape of his neck, over his broad shoulders, and down his strong back to his perfectly shaped behind. She imagined pressing her hands to that fabulous derrière and feeling the muscles there beneath her palms. A slight whimper escaped her which caught his attention. She smiled when he swung around to look at her.

"Honey, you should go inside. I think you're getting too hot. Your face is all red," he informed her, turning back to the task of cutting down the tree she asked him to remove. He yelped when he was unexpectedly accosted by his wife who grabbed his behind and squeezed hard. "Reiki! What the – "

Reiki pressed her mouth to his when he whirled around. Her hands flattened against his chest, gliding over his sweat slicked skin. It surprised her that she was more turned on than disgusted by the smell of sweat, sunshine, and wood that mixed together on his skin. To her it was almost intoxicating and quite arousing. Her tongue ran over his lips, tasting the saltiness of his sweat, before pushing between his lips. She leaned against him, dampening her shirt with his sweat which only served to stimulate her further when the moisture soaked through and roused her nipples.

"Reiki, please…" he pled with her attempting to push her away. He moaned when her hand cupped the swelling in his pants massaging it suggestively.

"Yes, Naruto, please," she begged him back. "Please, make love to me."

Far be it from him to deny such an enticing request from his wife. Naruto seized her by the arms, leaning her against the tree next to the one he had been cutting down. He liked the fact she had taken to wearing kimonos since learning of her pregnancy. With a flick of the wrist, he untied the belt to loosen the garment. Sliding his hands between the folds of fabric, he pushed them apart to reveal her body. Pushing the fabric over her shoulders and down her arms, it fell to the ground in a heap to leave her completely naked. Astonishingly, she was not wearing any underwear which made his mission to please her even easier.

Reiki licked along his neck, savoring the taste of him. Her pregnancy was the only thing to which she could contribute the sudden bizarre fetish. Why else would she be turned on by using her sweaty husband as a human salt lick? She wrapped her arms around his neck when he lifted her up to slide her down his erect member. The bark of the tree scratched her bare back as he pressed her against it to shove into her but it only served to amplify her pleasure.

"Oh, Naruto," she moaned in his ear, tracing the outer edge of the delicate structure with her tongue.

"Mmmm…Reiki," he groaned, moving faster when she excited him by nipping his earlobe.

Reiki held onto him, a satisfied grin spreading across her face as he pushed into her body with the same effort he had been using to demolish the tree. She was quite pleased to have him devouring her body with delicious carnal bliss. The sun heated their skin, causing them both to perspire until it streamed down their bodies in rivulets, mixing and mingling as they slid against one another in their efforts to consume each other sexually. She cried out with pleasure when he began to nail her to the tree with his forceful thrusts. The pressure built within her, forming in the lowest part of her belly with a delectable heaviness that begged for release.

Naruto's breathing came in rapid, ragged inhales as he worked himself inside of her. He cried out her name when she enclosed his body more tightly with her arms and legs while her inner muscles clenched him tightly. Knowing she was close, he shortened his strokes to bring her to a delightfully pleasurable end. He held her tightly when he shattered her control causing her to writhe fitfully in his arms as her womanhood contracted spasmodically around him from the overpowering muscle contractions seizing her whole body from her orgasm.

"Oh, Naruto," she moaned again, pressing her lips to his as he returned to making lengthy, energetic strokes into her to complete his climax.

"Your body is so incredible," he murmured, his eyes half lidded from the bliss. He kissed her as he climaxed to keep from yelling out because of the ecstasy.

"I do love the things you do to my body. Oh!" she cried out, pressing her hands against her belly when she felt a slight fluttery movement behind her belly button.

"What is it?" he asked anxiously, pushing the sweat drenched hair away from her heat flushed face.

"I felt the baby move," she stated with awe, smiling when the movement occurred again but a little further over. "It's marvelous. I can't wait for you to feel this."

Naruto stared at her positively rapturous face before kissing her forehead. He loved her so much; she and the baby were everything to him. All he had done and everything he would do to protect her and his child would be worth any price he had to pay. At the moment, there were no threats against them and they were free to live their life in peace and security. Temporarily foregoing a piece of his humanity, giving into the nine-tails' influence to kill Sasuke Uchiha had so been worth this amount of peace of mind.

~\..'../~

* * *

Naruto placed his head on Reiki's belly that was now in full bloom since it was her sixth month of pregnancy. The baby kicked inside of her and he could feel the soft tap against his cheek. He smiled at her as she lay contentedly raking her fingers through his hair. Sighing softly, he hugged her baby belly to embrace her and his child at once.

"I love your fat tummy," he murmured, kissing her nicely rounded pooch. Feeling her stiffen suddenly, he opened his eyes to look at her.

"What did you say?" Reiki asked with a suspicious tone to her voice.

"I said I love your tummy," he repeated, strategically omitting the offending word but it was too late.

"You said the f-word," she accused, her gold eyes narrowing with anger.

"Um…I, uh, I d-didn't m-mean fat as in you know…FAT," he tried to explain, attempting to hold onto her.

Naruto knew he was in big trouble from that one small slip of the lip. He really had not meant it like she was taking it. Jiraiya had warned him about the hormonal repercussions of pregnancy having dealt with a pregnant wife once. So far Reiki had been calm and pleasant, totally satisfied and content with the world. Her sexual appetite had grown but that had proved to be a fabulously pleasurable side effect and an emphatically positive one. A false sense of security had settled over him that the emotional fluctuations were not going to happen to her. Just as his father-in-law had warned, it had arriving stealthily and unexpectedly; her ire had been triggered by one small word.

Reiki moved off the bed, stomping down the hall. She opened the closet to get a blanket and an extra pillow before heading straight for the living room.

"Reiki, honey, please! I didn't mean it like that. You're beautiful. You're the most gorgeous pregnant woman I know!" he whined, trying to get her to calm down. He knew she was terribly angry because she was not saying a word to him which frightened him more than if she were yelling curses at him. At least if she were screaming at him, he would know what she was thinking.

"How many pregnant women do you know, Naruto?" she demanded, turning so abruptly he almost ran into her.

"Uh…one?" he answered apprehensively.

"Exactly." She rolled her eyes and spun around to proceed to the living room.

Reiki placed the pillow and blanket on the couch before trudging into the kitchen. Being pregnant was thirsty work and she felt parched all of a sudden. She poured herself a glass of water while ignoring her husband who was following her around the house like a lost puppy.

"You don't have to sleep on the couch," Naruto said, trailing behind her to the living room.

"I'm not," she told him while she straightened the sheets over the piece of furniture. She slammed the pillow into his chest, glowering at him. "You are."

Damn! He stared at her rigid back as she clomped down the hall with heavy steps that were evidence of her hurt feelings. He would definitely have to make it a point to keep the f-word out of his vocabulary for the rest of her pregnancy.

~...~

Reiki could not sleep. She felt guilty for overreacting. Getting out of the bed, she tiptoed down the hall to the living room. Peeking around the corner to look at him, she saw he was fast asleep and sprawled all over the place, halfway on and halfway off the couch. A smile graced her lips when she could see in him the sweet young boy she had loved first as just a friend in his sleep induced countenance of innocence. She moved to him in silence, kneeling down on the floor beside the couch. Her lips pressed a chaste kiss against his before she lingered above him to gaze at her handsome husband.

Naruto had been different these last few months, more quiet and serious but no other changes besides that. Maybe he was just growing up. What choice did they have? They were married and parents now. He had never mentioned a word about what happened to Sasuke, and she would never ask. That part of the past was buried to never be brought up again as far as they were concerned. The threat to their life and happiness had been dealt with to never return and that was good enough for her.

"Reiki," he gasped when she kissed his lips again.

"Hi, sweetie," she murmured, nuzzling his nose with hers. "Come to bed with me. I'm sorry for freaking out."

"It's all right," he said, brushing the hair back from her face to kiss her forehead. "I love you no matter what."

~\..'../~

* * *

Reiki stood up from the couch with great difficulty, waddling to the kitchen. She had been having more discomfort than usual since before dawn this morning. Leaning against the counter, she rubbed the relentless ache that had settled in her lower back with heel of her hand. The muscles in her thighs spasmed painfully and her belly felt like she might literally pop. She was ready to have this baby. Without warning, the muscles over her stretched to its limit tummy, tightened as if she were being squeezed by a gigantic invisible hand. Pitching forward, her fingers grabbed on to the side of the counter to hold her upright through the pain. Emitting a small cry from the agony that had unexpectedly seized her body, she made the frightening, but at the same time welcome, revelation that the baby had decided it was time.

"Naruto!" she called calmly once the contraction was over.

"What is it?!" he yelled, running into the kitchen and skidding to a stop right in front of her. He pressed his hands to her belly just in time to feel the muscles tightening.

Reiki grabbed his upper arm with one hand while pressing the other against her belly. She squeezed his arm, ignoring the hiss of discomfort he released in response to her death grip.

"Is this the real thing?" he asked when the rigid feeling of her belly beneath his hand subsided. When she removed her claws from his bicep, he rubbed the muscle to relieve the soreness and restore the blood flow through his arm.

"I believe so," she responded, panting slightly to catch her breath. She had been holding her breath through the pain.

"Let's go," he said, swinging her up into his arms to take her to the hospital. Despite her being nine months pregnant, he was strong and had no problem carrying her the whole way to the hospital while resorting to his old method of travel by going across the rooftops.

Reiki closed her eyes and held on to him, having full faith in him that he would get her there safely. She was handed to the medical-nins on duty to be taken care of while he went to retrieve her parents for the birth. She was dressed in a gown and put in a bed to prepare her for giving birth which by all signs would be happening within the next few hours.

~...~

"Naruto! You bastard!" Reiki screamed like a harpy as the contraction seized her body.

"I love my wife, I love my wife, I love my wife," he chanted under his breath, gritting his teeth as she tried to break his hand by clutching it with all of her strength.

"Reiki, let him go," Tsunade admonished her daughter, slapping her hand like when she was an unruly toddler. She could tell by the expression on her son-in-law's face he was now suffering as much as her daughter who was struggling through the contraction.

Reiki loosened her grip on him, panting when the muscle spasm that felt like a boa constrictor around her middle finally released. Her eyes widened in horror when something pink and decidedly unwelcome filled her vision.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" she demanded, lurching forward with a grunt when another contraction apprehended her body.

"I requested her presence," her mother informed her sharply to quell any further hateful comments that might pour forth from her daughter. "She's my best medical-nin and I want her to be in attendance for this. This will be her first delivery."

"Oh, lucky me," Reiki ground out between her teeth as she rode out the agony holding her in its clutches.

Trusting her mother despite thinking she might have lost her mind, she allowed the cotton candy haired ninja to place her hands on her belly. She kept her eyes on the sea foam green eyes of the woman touching her watching for any trace of negative emotions as she checked the baby.

"You're doing great. You're little one is just fine too," Sakura informed the laboring mother.

Reiki felt her husband clasping her hand a little too tightly. She looked at him to see the hard expression that had formed on his face upon seeing the pink haired ninja. Catching Naruto's eye, she shook her head almost imperceptibly warning him not to push the issue of Sakura's presence. She had already accepted Sakura's attendance based on her mother's request alone and he would have to as well. Turning her eyes to her father who was sickly pale and visibly shaking, she wondered if he might need medical attention more than her at the moment.

"Daddy? Are you all right?" Reiki asked the stricken man.

"I-I'm f-fine," he stuttered, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Oh, dammit, Jiraiya don't faint," Tsunade rebuked the man whose condition continued to deteriorate.

Reiki felt a rush of fluid from her water breaking and a sharp pain from another contraction that was much more powerful than the previous ones. She opened her mouth and wailed in distress when her labor took a step into the final moments before she would have the baby. Her eyes opened just in time to see her father stand up straight and tall while his face turned a sickly gray color. They all watched in stunned silence as the big man wavered slightly, rocking forward onto his toes before rolling back onto his heels to make a rapid descent straight to the floor.

"Well, there goes Dad," Reiki mumbled stoically. Gnashing her teeth, she rode through the next contraction and torrent of pain that made her feel like her body was about to be torn in two.

"Reiki, I need you to lean back and open your legs. It's time to push and bring your baby into this world," Sakura informed her, watching enviously as the woman's gorgeous blonde husband positioned himself behind his wife.

Sakura knew she would regret her decision to reject him every day for the rest of her life that day that the white haired woman had kissed him in front of her. Today was no different. If she had not been such a shallow shit and had her ass in a twist for Sasuke Uchiha, it could be her having his baby. Instead she not only had to watch on an up close level as another woman lived the life she realized she wanted too late, she was forced to get excessively personal in the most intimate way possible by assisting this woman with bringing his baby into the world. She knew Tsunade had chosen her because of her exceptional skills, but she really wished her mentor and medical-nin icon had picked someone else for the job.

Naruto put his arms around Reiki, clamping his legs along her sides to hold her. His hands massaged her belly to ease the rhythmically contracting muscles that were constricting and releasing so fast it felt like something was crawling beneath her skin under his fingertips. He kissed her sweaty cheek as they made the last preparations to bring their baby into this world.

"Push, Reiki," Sakura ordered, positioning herself to be ready for the baby while Tsunade watched over her shoulder.

Jiraiya was coming around and gained enough consciousness to sit up before hearing his daughter shriek in agony which caused him to go back out like a light. He could handle a lot of things but his daughter being in horrific pain was not one of them. They could just wake him up when the whole thing was over.

~...~

Reiki awoke with a start from the short nap she had lapsed into from exhaustion. Her labor had been quite intense and painful. In the end, she had torn which had caused excessive blood loss but their daughter had arrived safe and healthy. She turned her head to the side to see Naruto lying beside her in the bed with the tiny pink bundle held securely to his chest while his chin rested lightly on her completely hairless scalp. Reaching up, she stroked the baby's silky cheek then repeated the loving gesture on her sleeping husband. She was astonished to find when she moved there was no discomfort at all. It would not be easy for her to admit but Sakura had been an excellent doctor; following Tsunade's instructions exactly the woman had rid her body of the aching and soreness she was so afraid would come after the birth of Nariko.

They had named the baby to honor Jiraiya, the fainting grandfather, whose name means young thunder. He lived up to his name during the labor by making a mighty thunderous crash when he hit the floor. However, it was him who many years ago had made the contract for the betrothal then came back years later to enact it so in a way they did owe their daughter's existence to him.

Naruto could have refused the agreement since his parents were dead, but why would he have wanted to? He had already fallen in love with her before he knew it existed.

Reiki moved closer to her husband pressing her cheek against his as she embraced both him and the baby at once.

"I love you," she murmured into his ear, kissing his cheek.

"I love you too," he responded, opening his eyes. "Always."


	13. Chapter 13

Naruto stumbled through the dark, blind and half asleep, following the sound of his wife's quiet sobbing. He found her in the baby's room kneeling on the floor beside Nariko's crib. A wistful smile touched his lips to see her with her hand extended through the bars tenderly caressing the baby's pudgy cheek. Over the last month Nariko had sprouted quite an impressive amount of stunning red fuzz on her head. He was so happy that his baby girl was going to have his mother's hair color. It had always been his fondest wish that he had inherited that fabulous crimson color. Instead he looked like the spitting image of his father. He watched as the tears steadily streamed down Reiki's face, and she remained completely unaware of his presence; or so he thought.

"She's going to look like you, you know," his wife sniffed, surprising him.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," he muttered, kneeling down on the floor beside her.

"Can't you see it?" she asked, turning to look at him. Her hand pressed against his cheek and she kissed him briefly as if to soften the blow of her unintentional insult. "I can. She's going to have your mother's red hair color and your beautiful blue eyes that I love so much."

That really did help ease the sting of the unintended slight. Naruto understood she had not meant it as an affront to his appearance after all. He put his arm around her shoulders before kissing the top of her head.

"It's going to be a disaster," Reiki wailed, the tear factory starting anew.

"Oh, Kami, really?" he mumbled wanting to stop the emotional roller coaster because he was ready to get off. He had been hoping the hormonal turmoil was over after the birth but a month and a half later it was still going. Sometimes he wondered if there would be a second child for them.

"She's going to look just like you when you take on that sexy jutsu form of yours," she wept, her body shaking underneath his arm. "She's going to have your face but have a body like mine!"

Naruto burst out laughing before emitting a loud cough to cover up his unanticipated outburst when she glared at him so hotly he could practically feel the burning sensation on his face. "Oh sweetie, it's okay. As soon as she can walk we'll get her started on her training with Shikamaru. By the time her body develops she can kick the ass of any boy who gets out of line."

"Shikamaru? You think he'd make the best sensei?" she asked, wiping the tears off of her cheeks.

"Well, yeah. When he gets off his ass, he's a damn awesome ninja. I've already asked him if he would do it and he agreed. It's him or Konohamaru," he told her, standing to his feet and pulling her with him.

"That little pervert? Hell, no," she growled, leaning into him for a brief kiss. "He's already groped my mom on a few occasions. He can be the punching bag though."

Naruto chuckled at his ever feisty wife, sliding his fingers through her long white hair that streamed down her back. He bent down to sweep her up into his arms. He grinned broadly at her when she released a short shrill shriek of surprise.

"I'd like to get started on having a brother or sister for her," he said, carrying her to the bedroom.

"Oh? This soon?" she challenged, raising her chin to accept his passionate kiss as he lay on her on the bed.

Naruto turned very serious when a subject he had wanted to broach with her reentered his mind. He had been waiting until Nariko was a little older to talk about this.

"I want to go visit the graves of my mother and father. I want to introduce them to their granddaughter," he said, kissing both of her cheeks.

"I think that's a very good idea," Reiki agreed, feeling tears stinging her eyes once again.

Her lips pressed to his in an attempt to offer his aching heart some comfort. She hated how it still hurt him after all these years that he did not have his parents. Guilt covered her like a suffocating blanket because she sometimes forgot how lucky she was to have both of her parents with her. Jiraiya and Tsunade would be able to get to know their granddaughter; to physically hug her and hold her, to love her in a tangible way. Although she and Naruto knew on some level his parents would always be watching and protecting Nariko, those physical, palpable things would be an opportunity never allowed to his parents.

~\..'../~

* * *

Naruto held his precious three month old baby girl securely in his arms. He led Reiki to the ancestral temple that had been constructed to house the black marble markers belonging to the graves of his mother and father. He brushed his lips across the spikey red hair that had grown even more densely on the baby's head. The loveliness of his mother and her exquisite red hair had been legendary. His daughter held the same promise of becoming another renowned beauty. He looked into the jewel toned sapphire blue eyes of the child that mirrored his own. He could not help but smile upon remembering the night he caught his wife crying because she was afraid their daughter would grow up to look just like him in his sexy jutsu form. It was a distinct possibility that his sweet girl could look like that but he was not worried. Their child came from immaculate bloodline of shinobis on both sides and would have the best senseis at her disposal to teach her. They would have absolutely nothing to worry about with their daughter except for the poor souls whose asses she would soundly trounce should they make the mistake of messing with her.

Reiki lit the incense sticks using the eternal flame that burned on the top of Minato's headstone. She had been quite proud of her father when he made that as a tribute to his friend, enabling it to be supplied with a constant supply of oil so that the flame will never be extinguished. Placing the sticks securely in the gold stand at the bottom of the marker, she knelt down to reverently bow her head while her husband did the same beside her.

A sudden wind swept up, twisting the tendrils of smoke rising from the incense into a double helix column that rose to the ceiling. Two glowing orbs appeared at the top of the smoke, one red and one yellow, before gently floating downward like soap bubbles. Reiki and Naruto felt the change in energy, discerning the arrival of the two beings. Raising their heads, they watched as the spheres burst without a sound, emitting a sudden surge of red and yellow light that molded into a singular blast of blinding orange tinted light. Once their eyes adjusted, they could see two human forms standing there: a blonde man who they recognized easily because his son looked like him and his wife and Naruto's mother, with long flowing red hair and kind but mischievously twinkling eyes that were a darker shade of blue than her husband's. There were transparent apparitions at first before slowly taking on a more solid, corporeal form.

Reiki smiled at his mother because she recognized that same playful glint from her husband's eyes. He looked like his father but it was obvious that he had his mother's personality.

"Mom, Dad," Naruto gasped, rising to his feet. Kami had seen fit to allow him to have the blessing of a lifetime to not only see but touch the parents that had been taken from him way too soon.

Reiki swiftly stood beside him, taking the baby from him so he could greet his parents. She bit her lower lip, tears forming in her eyes as he tentatively walked forward with his fingers extended toward his mother.

Naruto gasped in joyful astonishment when his mother touched him, and she felt as real and tangible as his own wife standing beside him. Rushing forward, he embraced her tightly, allowing his tears to fall down his cheeks unchecked. He could not believe he was actually hugging his mother. After reluctantly releasing her, he moved to his father who stood eye to eye with him. Both men were silent as they regarded each before he finally moved to hug his father.

Reiki smiled when his father was caught off guard by the unexpected show of affection and he was not sure how to react at first. She felt the tears wetting her cheeks when the man hugged his son back. When his mother bid her to come forward with a wave of her hand, she obediently acted while holding the baby wrapped in a pink blanket firmly against her chest.

"My son," Minato murmured, staring at his boy. His pride and approval of his son showed on his face as he considered the man he had become.

"D-Dad, I n-never thought…I never i-imagined…" Naruto stuttered and struggled with the words as he was overcome by emotion from seeing his parents again.

"I know, son. Me too," his stoic father said in understanding, pulling his flabbergasted son forward for another less awkward embrace. His eyes turned to Reiki next, observing her carefully.

Minato seemed to be so serious and soft spoken in comparison to his loud, unreserved, and often comical son. He nodded at her to acknowledge her before turning back to Naruto to address him directly.

"So she's the one who was betrothed to you? Jiraiya and Tsunade's daughter?" he inquired, smiling slightly when his son nodded enthusiastically. "I knew that had been a good choice."

Reiki stifled a laugh when his wife cast him a glare before the woman's flashing blue eyes turned back to her. She moved forward toward her, carefully handing the baby to Kushina who cradled the child against her chest and lovingly stared down at the baby who resembled her son so closely.

"Her name is Nariko," Reiki told her ethereal mother-in-law.

"She's beautiful. She will grow strong and powerful. She has remarkable parents," Kushina said, looking at Reiki and smiling at her. She moved toward her husband, sidling up next to him so he could see the baby.

"Oh, she's so beautiful," he cooed, reaching out to touch the baby's soft cheek. He smiled when his granddaughter reached up to enclose his finger with her tiny little digits as if recognizing him. "She will one day be greater and more formidable than the both of you."

Reiki and Naruto were already expecting her to be so and took this as a confirmation to their already fervent beliefs. They watched as Minato took the baby into his arms. He kissed the baby's forehead and she gurgled happily in response. Reiki placed her hand on Naruto's chest after his arm slid around her waist. Apprehension filled them both while his father wordlessly analyzed the baby as if preparing to say something profound.

"She will be a blessing not only to her parents but to the village. One day she will be an amazing shinobi and a great leader. She will not only grow in strength, gaining great skills, but also in knowledge as well. Kurama will be her ally and strength. She will have the ability to wield the demon at her will," Minato prophesied over his granddaughter.

Reiki bit her lower lip upon hearing the last part. She was hoping that Nariko would not be chosen as the next vessel for the demon. She had wanted that the choice, those words, not to come until much later in their lives. However, Nariko had inherited her grandmother's red hair, marking her as a true Uzumaki. Since she was a girl and the first born, of course it fell to her to be the nine tails' vessel. She walked out of the temple, leaving Naruto alone to say his good-byes and have one last moment with his parents and their granddaughter. She dabbed at her tears with the hem of her kimono sleeve, trying to make them stop coming.

"Take good care of them, son. Keep them safe. Succeed where I failed," Minato said, holding his wife to his side.

"But you didn't fail," Naruto protested, taking the baby from his mother. "You both gave your lives to save me…to save this village. How does that make you a failure?"

Both of his parents smiled at him, embracing him and the baby both in unison.

"You'll be a great husband and father," his mother said, growing transparent.

"We love you. We'll be watching over all of you," his father assured him before they both disappeared in a flare of orange light.

Naruto held his daughter close to his aching heart as if to soothe himself. If only he could have had more time with them…but then there never would be enough time to make up for the lost years without them. Sighing deeply to release the sorrow that had built up, he walked out of the temple to find his wife. He found her standing outside near a tree wiping tears from her eyes. His sweet weeping willow would find her smile again someday; he would make sure of that.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Naruto asked when he appeared with the baby nestled against his chest sleeping contentedly.

"Nothing," she lied not wanting to tell him that she was upset about Nariko being chosen to be the keeper of the demon.

It had not surprised her really but the announcement was no less heart rending either. What mother wants to hear her sweet innocent child will be the keeper of a horrendous beast that was responsible for the demise of thousands and held a power that could possibly kill her child in its desire to be free? Her eyes fell on her husband, and she wondered what it must have been like for his parents. They made the split second decision to transfer the demon to him to keep it from completely destroying the village and thousands of innocent lives. How had it felt to be them? Maybe it was better for them that had died and did not have to watch him struggle to become master of the insidious evil within. She stood on her tiptoes, pressing a brief kiss to his lips. "There is nothing wrong at all. My life is just perfect. I'm with the two people I love most in this world. That's all that matters."


	14. Chapter 14

"Hold on to her!" Naruto yelled at Shikamaru as his best friend held his wife in a headlock.

"AHHHH!" the dark haired man yelled as he went sailing through the air before hitting the ground with a painful thud. He had unceremoniously been flipped over her head and thrown like an unwanted toy.

"I said hold onto her," the blonde repeated trying not to laugh as Lazy Ninja groaned with discomfort while lying on the ground without moving.

"Who's next?!" she screamed like a banshee glaring at each man in turn who had been standing around watching the sparring match.

Every man who had been gathered in the circle surrounding the fighters moved back after visibly wincing from her glower. Even Kakashi blanched when her molten gold eyes landed on him. He was not up to the challenge of dealing with a pissed off mama. Naruto had told him about the interesting visit from his parents and the unwelcome prophecy declared over their daughter. He had to offer some explanation why his wife was at the training grounds accepting a match with anyone who dared to take her on. She had a bit of 'nervous energy' and stress to work off. It was a good thing she did not get stressed too often to this degree or they would all be dead.

Konohamaru stepped up to her bravely or stupidly; everyone watching was hard pressed just to say exactly which drove the kid to walk into the ring with the mad mama. He wore the smirk of bravado that only a twelve year old dolt like him would have. Wearing stupidity like a banner, he flung his scarf over his shoulder and began making a hand sign with confidence that this battle was his. In a puff of smoke, a clone of Naruto and Shikamaru appeared locked in each other's embrace while their lips moved forward to merge in a kiss. He had invoked the use of his Sexy Boy on Boy Technique all to no avail. It only made her furious.

However, it did excite a few of the onlookers. A trio of fangirl squeals erupted from the back of the crowd and everyone turned to see the source. Sakura covered her mouth with her hands while her huge green eyes took in the enticing sight of the forbidden bromance happening in front of them. Hinata covered her eyes but unfortunately things that have been seen cannot be unseen. Ino held her hands over her ears while her eyes greedily watched the salacious scene occurring at the center of attention. Unfortunately, speak no evil, see no evil, and hear no evil had become the new center of attention as they all blushed and fainted in rapid succession from their yaoi fangirl wet dream being played out in public.

"Konohamaru! You filthy little pervert!" Reiki shouted, jumping toward him with her fist raised. She proceeded to punch him in the face, throwing him backwards off his feet.

The crowd parted as not to stop his reverse flight which was soon hampered by a wayward tree that managed to get into the way. He hit the tree and landed on the ground in a lifeless lump. And with that, he was literally down for the count. He lost.

"Naruto!" she screamed, searching for her husband. She was sure he was the one responsible for the boy knowing how to do that disturbing technique.

"Oh, shit! I'm out of here," Naruto muttered, sneaking off into the forest before she could find him.

"You have to go home sometime!" she shrieked, scaring birds out of the trees and unknowingly making her husband flinch in horror.

"Damn," he muttered to himself. She was right. He would just have to be prepared with a great distraction for her when he returned home.

~...~

"There is no way in hell I'm letting that little pervert get near my daughter," Reiki grumbled to herself, stomping into the house. She was hot, dirty, and in desperate need of a shower.

After turning on the shower, she peeled off her sweaty clothes before stepping under the hot spray. She sighed loudly with relief enjoying the sensation of the steaming water beating against her sore muscles. In her anger, she had pushed herself too hard today. Now that the fury had dissipated she was left aching and exhausted. Her mind began to speculate where her husband could be but she did not have to wonder long when a strong arm went around her waist and pulled her against a tall, well muscled body.

"You're right. I had to come home so I wouldn't miss this," Naruto whispered in her ear, covering one of her large breasts with his hand.

"You should be happy I'm so tired. Otherwise I'd beat the crap out of you," she warned, biting her lip to hold in the moan when his other hand slid between her legs. She jumped and groaned deep in her throat when his fingers slipped between her lips to graze the most sensitive and intimate part of her.

"Oh, I don't think you would fight me at this moment," he murmured, kissing her neck as he pushed his finger inside of her. "Would you?"

"Naruto," Reiki gasped, her knees weakening with pleasure as he worked his hand against her.

She wanted to be cross with him but he was making it impossible as he sent shivers of pleasure up her spine from his gentle movements with his hand. She felt herself being pushed forward, and she extended her hands to brace herself against the shower wall. A sigh of carnal bliss escaped her lips as he slowly pushed into her from behind, holding her hips with both of his hands. If he had not caught her by surprise and started things with an adrenaline rush, she would have thwarted his romantic intentions by citing her sore and aching body as her reason. Moaning his name loudly she dreaded to think about what she would have been missing as he unhurriedly made love to her.

"So that didn't excite you at all? Seeing me with Shikamaru in Konahamaru's technique?" he inquired, leaning forward to kiss her across the shoulders while he took long strokes from tip to base inside of her.

"No. Don't be so disgusting. Damn, Naruto would you shut up before you ruin the moment?" she growled, inhaling sharply with excitement when he shoved forward with a quick movement of his hips to immerse himself completely inside of her.

"Oh, sweetheart, I don't think I could ruin this pleasurable moment for you," he said, nipping her shoulder gently that still bore the scar from his bite.

"Aren't you a bit conceited?" she joked, stifling another moan that tried to burst forth from her lips.

"No. Just convinced," he shot back, straightening up to move faster inside of her.

The playful banter stopped immediately as the pleasure grew and Naruto became determined to make her scream with ecstasy. He liked to hear the variety of odd noises he could elicit from her during lovemaking. Sometimes he made it a goal to bring an unusual sound from her lips. Tonight he was determined to hear her cry out his name as she trembled beneath him with a mind-blowing orgasm.

"Naruto, please," Reiki begged, pushing against the wall to force her body back into his.

"Please what?" he asked, moving his hand around her hip to slide it between her legs.

"YES! That's it!" she cried out as he massaged the oversensitive and engorged nub deep within her folds. She relied on her husband to hold her up as she gave into the ecstasy spiraling through her body that culminated into an orgasm that left her breathless. She leaned against him weakly after he pulled her back to his chest to work toward his own climax.

"Reiki," he breathed in her ear, reaching out to support himself with his hand against the wall.

Reiki held onto his arm around her waist, biting her lip as he lifted her off the tiled shower floor with each powerful thrust. Her moans were muffled by his loud, primal grunts as he pushed into her willing body until he felt himself ejecting into her moments before the pleasure overtook him and devastated him. She jumped up, wrapping her legs around his thighs to hold on as he fell to his knees. It had been incredibly awkward hanging on to him like a backwards monkey. She released him, stretching her legs out in front of her while she sat on his thighs. The water from the shower poured down on them like a heavy rain.

"Well, that was different," she mumbled, giggling lightly. "Are you okay?"

"Mm-hm. I'm quite all right," he replied, kissing her shoulder as the water flowed over her skin. "You do know the demon won't be transferred to Nariko until I'm about to die. Which I hope will be many years from now."

"Yeah. Me too," Reiki returned, barely above a whisper. She did not want to think about being without him even if it was old age after a long happy life that took him away. What if she died first, for whatever reason, to leave him alone? Shivering from the thought, her husband misunderstood and thought she was cold from sitting under the water. She was pushed to her feet then he stood up behind her.

"She will have the choice, Reiki. She can either refuse to take it or follow the fate that has been given to her. In the end, the only reason I married you was because I already loved you," he said, kissing her cheek before giving her a peck on the lips.

"It's not like you've ever been one to follow the rules have you? Well, I'm glad you loved me," she rejoined with a small smile. "What would you do if she refused to accept the nine tails?"

"I don't know. We'll figure it out then," he said, turning off the water. "Right now, I know what lies in your near future."

"Oh, yeah, what's that?" she asked, sliding her arms around his neck as he wrapped a towel around her body.

"I am going to take you to our bedroom and make love to you," he answered, punctuating it with a kiss.

"I like the sound of that." She took the towel out of his hand and began to dry him off.

"Until you can't walk straight," he added, kissing her forehead before she dropped to her knees to dry off his legs.

"Oh? Is that a promise?" she inquired, avoiding a certain area that was growing exponentially as she rubbed him with the towel.

"Oh yes, without a doubt. Honey, while you're down there – " Moving his hips forward to poke her in the shoulder with his extra appendage that had sprung to life.

"Nope. You made a promise," she reminded him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I intend to keep it."

~\0/~

* * *

"What's wrong with you? Why are you walking so funny?" Shizune inquired when Reiki walked into the office the next morning. She kept a wary eye on her friend as she crossed the room to her desk.

"Uh…I must have pulled something during one of the sparring matches I had yesterday," Reiki croaked, her throat raw from last night as well. She eased herself down into her chair carefully. Her husband had made more than good on his threat making her scream until her throat was sore while leaving her tender and aching on the inside as well.

"Oh yeah, it must be from a fight," she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "Speaking of that, I heard about Konohamaru's little stunt."

"Disgusting little pervert," Reiki growled, her face showing the revulsion she had felt yesterday.

"I heard that _some people_ liked it," she added with a mischievous chuckle thinking about the reaction of the perverted trio. She only wished she could have been there to see it personally instead of hearing about it from Kakashi.

Reiki grunted with disapproval from the memory and a little pain as she bent down to pick up Tonton who was snuffling at her feet for attention. She picked her up, petting the little pig that was always happy to see her.

"You think you're a dog don't you?" she asked the diminutive pink pig whose curly tail was wiggling like crazy.

"If that pig answers you, I'm walking right back out of here," Tsunade grumbled as she swept into the office. "Where's your husband?"

Reiki was stunned for a moment. Her mother always referred to him by his name, and she seemed really grumpy for some reason this morning. Had he done something wrong? What was going on?

"At home," she answered abruptly, irritated that he got to stay home and sleep in after keeping her awake nearly all night. "Why?"

"I need him to go on a mission. To save Sakura," her mother muttered the annoyance evident in her voice.

"Does she have to be saved?" Reiki inquired, her white eyebrows drawing together in aggravation. After receiving a death glare from her mother, she asked, "Why him? Can't someone else go save her? What the hell did she do anyway? Wasn't she supposed to be at the hospital?"

"She had gone along on a mission with Lee and Kiba as the medical-nin, dear, if you must know. She got separated from them and was abducted by an enemy. Everyone else is busy so that is why I'm sending Naruto," she explained to her daughter who was showing outward signs of her misgivings and exasperation.

Reiki refused to open her mouth because if she did horrible, unpleasant things would come out. Of course that idiot got herself caught by a rival ninja. She couldn't blame her teammates for abandoning her; where the hell were they anyway? Naturally only Naruto could save her. It was like a cruel cosmic joke really.

"I'll go with him," she said, standing up slowly from her chair.

"What's wrong with you?" her mother asked. "You don't look like you're in any shape to go anywhere."

"I'm fine," she insisted, gritting her teeth against the pain.

"You're not going. You have to trust him, Reiki. He will do the right thing. He loves you," Tsunade told her, finally understanding her daughter's reservations.

"It's not him I mistrust. It's her. I don't put it past _her_ to try something," she clarified, nervously toying with the belt of her kimono.

"You have no choice but to have faith in him," her mother stated with impatience in her voice. "One day he will have to have the same faith in you."

~\..'../~

* * *

Sakura cuddled next to her hero while he slept. She laid her head on his chest to listen to the steady beating of his heart. Closing her eyes, she recalled what a fantastic sight it had been to see his gorgeous whisker marked face when he showed up to save her from her captors. They had kept her tied up and made threats of physical violence including rape but thankfully none of them had touched her. Naruto had been amazing as he fought for her, taking out each of the men one by one. Never before had she wanted him so badly as she observed him in action, taking each painful injury just for her, to save her. Opening her eyes, she looked at the face of her handsome champion while he slept. A surge of guilt washed over her, stinging her with regret. How could she have ever treated him so cruelly? Why did she reject him time and time again? Apparently she had been the idiot all along and not him.

Sakura had healed his injuries, and he was sleeping peacefully. Not wanting to wake him but unable to stop herself from satisfying her curiosity, she pressed her lips to his to steal a kiss. She had wondered for so long what it would be like to kiss him. When he responded by kissing her back instead of pushing her away, she felt a flood of arousal through her body. Her hand moved down his chest, sliding downwards slowly. She gasped, tearing her lips from his, when he grabbed her hand to stop its descent. Her surprise widened eyes stared at his face, stunned when his big blue eyes fluttered open to glare at her.

"What do you think you're doing?" he growled, pushing her away.

"I was just…I wanted to…" she wavered, unable to come up with a plausible explanation for her actions. "I want you."

"It's too late for that. You had your chance," Naruto reminded her. He stood up, snatching his jacket from the tree branch where she had hung it. Putting it on, he shuddered from the thought of what would have had happened had he not woken up in time.

Sakura sat on the ground staring at his back. She did not know what to say at this time. Standing up, she ran to him to put her arms around him. Pressing her face into his back, she began to cry as she held him tightly around his waist.

"But I love you! I want you!" she cried, feeling as pathetic as she sounded. "You shouldn't be with her!"

"Who should I be with? You?" he snorted derisively, unable to keep the demeaning sneer from his face. "Really? You're the girl who never missed a chance to verbally or physically abuse me. Nothing says love like a good ass beating or a hateful insult, huh Sakura? I had a crush on you for years and you knew it but you treated me like crap anyway."

"I know. I'm sorry," she sobbed, holding onto him tighter as he tried to pry her off of him.

"I'm not," he snarled, peeling her arms off of his waist and pushing her away gently. "I got to see the real you. You showed me what you're really like and I don't want any part of that."

"But I, but I…" she stammered, unable to come with a good excuse for her past deeds.

There was none. Sakura had enjoyed treating him that way, but she would not admit that to him. She did not even want him until he belonged to another woman. Nothing stirs up desire quite like competition or inaccessibility. At first Reiki was a rival for Naruto's attention. Once that bitch arrived, she could not even get him to glance in her direction anymore. Then they were married which took him straight into the category of being unobtainable which only increased her longing to have him. She had thought for sure she could seduce him, get him to have sex with her, then that wonderful wife of his would no longer want him and he would finally be hers. However, as he glowered at her, she knew he would be a bigger challenge than she had initially thought. Maybe she was going about this the wrong way. Perhaps her target should be his wife. She could find someone to lure Reiki into an affair then she would be there to comfort him when his wife breaks his heart.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, hoping it sounded sincere. "I won't try anything else."

Naruto stared at her guardedly. It had been a long time since he had given up his position as the village idiot and he knew better than to think she would give up that easily. He had watched her run after Sasuke Uchiha for years with relentless determination that was undeterred by even the most humiliating and obvious rejections. The woman had unyielding resolve when she set her mind to something which in his case was a very bad thing since he had inadvertently become the object of her desire. He could only speculate as to what she would try next. He could not get her back to the village and away from him soon enough.


	15. Chapter 15

'I hate that bitch,' Sakura seethed in silence feeling as hot on the inside from unrelenting fury as she did on the outside from lounging in the hot spring. She groaned in aggravation, laying her head back on the towel she rolled to use for this purpose. It had been weeks since the incident in the forest after Naruto's heroic rescue of her, and he had avoided her like the plague since returning. Somehow he had also managed to keep the secret from that shrew of a wife of his. Maybe that was for the better. She would surely get her ass kicked if the wife from hell knew what had happened. Her latest scheme was also in danger of becoming a dismal failure.

"So has your new plan failed yet?" Ino asked sounding way to happy for such a negative concept. "I told you it would. He loves her. It sucks to be you."

"You're not helping, Ino-pig," Sakura growled, splashing water on her outspoken frenemy.

"Hey! Watch it, Billboard Brow!" Ino exclaimed, checking her beautiful blond locks for water damage. "What now?"

"I've talked to several of the guys about trying to seduce her. They're all too scared," she snorted derisively. Her wrath grew upon thinking back to how every man had shown varying degrees of hilarity then exasperation or outright fear when she presented her plan to lure Reiki into an affair. She was hard pressed to say what frightened them more: Naruto's vengeance if they succeeded or Reiki's retribution when they tried and failed.

"What about that guy that just strolled into the village a month or so ago? What's his name?" Ino thought a minute, rolling her blue eyes up to the ceiling as if the answer were hidden behind her eyelids.

"Sai." Sakura provided the elusive name, raising her head because the prospect piqued her interest.

"Yeah! That's it!" she exclaimed a little too loudly to be promptly shushed by her friend.

"We're plotting, stupid! You don't need to yell about it!" she admonished the always big mouthed blonde. Usually Ino was not so loud volume wise and preferred to whisper her gossip. "Sai…he could be a rather promising possibility. He is excessively socially inept. He wouldn't care that she's married…not even to the guy that has befriended him. He has no emotional qualms because he has no emotions."

"He's perfect," the blonde rejoined with a devilish gleam in her eye.

"Let's go talk to him when we're done here," she suggested, gliding her hands over her still flat breasts. Looking over at Ino's very well developed rack, she added, "I'll do the talking. You show a little bit of what you got to convince him so we can seal the deal."

With a leering grin on her face, Ino silently agreed with a nod. She was more than willing help her friend. Personally she had no interest in Naruto or dissolving his marriage to Reiki. She just liked to stir up shit and have new things to blabbermouth about. This would be fodder for starting the most remarkable rumor mill ever. She could hardly contain her excitement over the prospect.

~...~

'How did I get here? To this extent of obsession?'Sakura wondered as she primped to go see Sai. She had gone from not really giving a damn about the vivacious blonde to not being able to live without him. It did not matter that he was married; that fact seemed to make her want him all the more. She hated that Sai, of all people, was her last great hope of finding someone who would dare to attempt to entice the fiercely loyal Reiki away from her husband. Desperation had driven her to this point; to be willing to ask him for help.

Sakura thought back to the day Reiki had kissed Naruto in front of her. At the time she had thought it was just a trick to make her jealous. Even if it had been, it had worked fantastically. It was a good thing her eyes were already green because they certainly would have been that day. The green eyed monster of jealousy had reared its awful head in that moment, lighting a fire within her she had no clue would grow to this sanity consuming inferno. After that, she had watched from afar as Reiki and Naruto grew closer and closer while she was getting angrier and more envious all the time. During his three year absence she had hoped that Naruto would forget Reiki, or fall out of love with her or do something that would cause him to not want to marry her when he returned. She had watched Reiki like a hawk, especially when she was with Iruka or Kakashi, waiting and praying that the woman would fall into temptation and have an affair with one of them. Hell, an affair with both of them would have been nice. Not only would it have been fun to watch, she could only imagine the disgust and hatred that would have grown in Naruto for the woman who would have been his wife. Unfortunately, neither one of those things happened.

By the arrival of the wedding day, Sakura had all but given up. When Sasuke appeared it had been all she could do not to stand and cheer from her place at the very back of the crowd in attendance for the disgustingly beautiful and long as hell ceremony. She was hoping that watching the wedding would cure her heart sickness and make her see that her chance was over. But hope flared anew when the Uchiha of her past dreams had appeared and grabbed the woman she had wordlessly declared her enemy years before. She had prayed to Kami that he would end it right there: kill her, take her away, do something besides just ruin the day and run away. Damn him. He never did do anything useful for anyone but himself the sulky, self-centered little bastard.

The day Sakura had attended the birth and been forced to care for her greatest adversary had been her defining moment. The temptation to hurt Reiki or even murder her right there on that birthing table had been overwhelming. However, with her greatest inspiration and the woman she wanted to be like looking over her shoulder, she had not been able to bring herself to do any harm to Tsunade's daughter. Besides, how smart would it have been to do that in the room with the two legendary Sannins who were her parents and the jinchūriki that was her husband? That would have been plain suicidal on her part. She might be a lot of things but suicidal was not one of them.

"Hey! Beauty Queen!" Ino shouted unnecessarily since she was in the same room. "Are you ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Sakura answered, turning her back to check how her ass looked in her tight pants. Something had to work, to convince Sai to be willing to go after the woman. Sighing heavily, she resigned herself to formulating another strategy if this one did not work.

~...~

"What?" Sakura asked because she was sure she had heard him wrong.

"I said that I would do it," Sai repeated patiently in his soft voice that was completely devoid of sentiment.

Sakura stared at the man who resembled a pale copy of Sasuke Uchiha. Staring at his overly white skin and blacker than black eyes, she began to doubt if he could pull it off. Her eyes meandered down his body that was scandalously clad as always in a cut off shirt that bared his incredibly well defined abdomen and disturbingly close-fitting black leather pants. Gulping hard, she saw that he was indeed capable of sexual excitement despite not showing outward emotional signs. She cleared her throat loudly while forcing her eyes back to his face and away from the unmistakable bulge in his dreadfully, yet mouthwateringly tight pants. If she did not want him to save that pent up sexual frustration for Reiki Uzumaki, she would have a go at him herself, right here, right now.

"You will do it," she reiterated, thrilled beyond reason. "How?"

"You leave that to me," he stated with a distinct air of mystery, tucking his drawing pad under his arm while gathering up his drawing utensils.

It was time for him to go. Something pink and pouty had ruined his view. The waning light of sunset had also changed the shadows of the landscape so it was no good looking at it anymore anyway for his sketch. He could go back to the drawing later and finish it from memory, but at the moment he had to escape the pink devil haranguing him. What did he care about her misplaced affections for Naruto or her misdirected hatred for the man's wife? They were the first two people in this village to even speak to him then went on to not only offer him hospitality but friendship.

The Cherry Blossom was an idiot and ugly as far as he was concerned. It was tragic really. She had the incurable problems of being hideous and stupid all at once. It seems like Kami would have given her a break by only afflicting her with one of those terrible complications. The issue of being without a rational thought in her head could be fixed but the woman seemed to take pride in it therefore making it permanent.

Sai could not keep the smirk from his lips as he turned in the direction of Reiki and Naruto's house. He would take care of dealing with Sakura's indecent proposal immediately. He might be emotionless, but unlike her, he retained his ability to think logically. Actually, without the hindrance of emotions, he could think more logically than most.

Women confused him; such irrational and unpredictable creatures. They could be somewhat pleasing one moment then irritating and disagreeable the next. Women were best when they were moaning softly under him while he plowed them senseless otherwise they were pretty much of no use and he avoided them at all costs. It was not that he would mind seducing Reiki. Hell, it was not like the fantasy of screwing her had not already entered his head. However, he did have boundaries.

Naruto was the only person he had given a damn about since Shin. The blonde, who he had regarded as nosy and a bit annoying at first, had enabled him to remember Shin so he could complete the portfolio of drawings he had begun years earlier to honor the man he had called his brother. He had also enabled him to feel some emotion again which initially had been quite disconcerting but he got used to it. He had become a true friend and Sai would not do anything to destroy that relationship. To the pink one, on the other hand, he owed no such loyalty. The village had been pretty quiet as of late so a good cat fight was just what everyone needed to add a little excitement to their lives.

~...~

"She did what?" Reiki snarled through her teeth. SNAP! She looked down at the wooden spoon she had been using to serve their dinner. Despite having a handle that was four centimeters thick, it lay in her hand in two pieces. Her only regret was that it was not Sakura's neck.

"Now, honey…" Naruto began, allowing the entreaty to trail off when she glared at him.

"Is there something you're not telling me? You acted really strange when you returned from your little rescue and retrieval mission," she declared, tapping her finger against her chin as she thought back to the incidents of several weeks ago.

"I…uh, um, I…see what happened was…it wasn't my fault mind you…" her husband stammered and stopped before rattling on some more. His face continued to darken to crimson until he thought he would faint or burst into flames. Either one of those options would be preferably to telling her the truth.

"Well, I must be going," Sai announced, standing up to leave.

He was starving but he would be willing to miss dinner to avoid the inevitable argument that was about to occur. The fact that he had inadvertently caused it gave him no reason to pause. Being devoid of emotion was sometimes a very convenient thing. When he felt a hand on his wrist, pulling him back down into his chair, he was powerless to resist. The big blue pleading eyes of his friend had the same effect of desperate puppy dog eyes on him. Sighing heavily, he dared to glance at the furious woman the kitchen who was quiet and deep in thought.

"You know she's at her most dangerous right now. You'd be better off if she was screaming at you," Sai whispered to him conspiratorially, glancing around for a fast escape route.

"I know that!" Naruto hissed back, catching a glimpse of his wife as she moved toward him.

"Just tell me you didn't screw her," Reiki said in a low controlled voice. She cupped his chin in her hand pulling it up so he would meet her gaze.

Naruto was stunned to see the tears in her eyes. "I didn't screw her," he dutifully and truthfully admitted. Regrettably, he had begun talking and found himself unable to stop. "She kissed me while I was sleeping. If I hadn't woken up, I'm afraid she would have –"

Reiki pressed her lips against his to cut him off. She finished off the kiss with strong embrace before striding to the door.

"Where are you going?" he asked with great concern.

"Bitch hunting," Reiki replied bluntly, slamming the door behind her.

"Should we follow her?" he questioned his black haired companion who was still staring at the door.

"Hell, yeah! Do you want to miss this fight?" he queried incredulously, getting up to go to the door.

"No. Let's go!"

~...~

Reiki found her prey in the local bar having a grand old time. She assumed they were celebrating the success of a half assed scheme and the impending demise of her marriage. A malicious smile curled her lips and the murderous chakra began to seep from her body causing the horde of people to separate like the red sea did for Moses as she stalked toward the laughing hyena sandwiched between Kiba and Shino. She caught Shikamaru's eye first, and he immediately vacated the booth. She did not care that he poked Choji and advised him to run for his life. The only person she was concerned with dealing with at the moment was the pink haired bitch shamelessly molesting poor Kiba in public.

Reiki walked up to the table, snatching Sakura's drink right of her hand. Raising it to her lips, she watched the expression of alarm and loathing cross the woman's face as she chugged the fruity, sugary cocktail. Ugh! She even drinks pink, sissy drinks. She slammed the glass down on the table not noticing that it shattered in her hand.

"Come outside!" she yelled over the deafening music. She glared at the pink haired woman as she watched her physically struggle with her emotions.

Sakura considered refusing and did not want to move from the safety of the booth. Suddenly she realized she was alone in the booth. 'Traitors! Every last one of them!' she thought to herself resentfully because her friends had deserted her. She looked around to find herself not just alone in the booth but the bar as well. Apparently somewhere along the way she had forgotten most of her friends were Naruto and Reiki's friends as well and were not going to pick sides at a time like this.

Reiki turned on her heel, confident pride would win out and the cotton candy ninja would have to follow her outside to save face. She wondered how the woman could have so much pride yet be so immature and plain asinine at the same time. A cruel smile twisted her lips when the excessively mean thought occurred to her that maybe it was a lack of hormones that kept her brain from developing just like it had her body. Upon exiting the door she was greeted with the vision of a premade fight arena consisting of a large circle made up of their many mutual friends and a few curious strangers who had been inside the bar partying. She hoped only Sakura and Ino were celebrating and the others were blissfully unaware of the trap Sakura had intended to set. She was about to make them all of cognizant of what would undoubtedly be the public collapse of another great plot to lure her husband away. There was something quite satisfying about the mixture of horror from the realization that her plan had been found out and the disappointment that it had failed showing simultaneously on the woman's face.

"Are you serious? We're not children!" Sakura exclaimed with an overblown sense of indignation that managed to make her look foolish.

"Then stop acting like one," Reiki calmly retorted, standing between Sai and Naruto. "Just think of it as a friendly sparring match to settle our differences."

"This will be anything but friendly," Sakura muttered, pushing between Choji and Shikamaru.

"Whose fault is that?" her adversary smartly countered.

"Come on then. Let's go," she snapped, raising her fists.

Reiki watched her opponent carefully. She anticipated Sakura using her Cherry Blossom Impact as she gathered chakra in her hands, and she countered with the same maneuver. She had not forgotten that the woman had been training with her mother and would know a lot of the same techniques she knew and used. The ground rumbled and exploded between them before showering them with dirt. She was ready when Sakura raced toward her while the dirt was still falling with her fist aimed at her belly. Grabbing her by the wrist, she used the woman's momentum to swing her around and throw her into a nearby building. While her adversary was busy pulling herself out of the wall, she gathered her chakra to form a long blue strand out in front of her. She flicked her wrist bringing up the chakra whip as her opponent returned to the circle. This technique had accidentally been discovered in her attempt to recreate the chakra chains that Naruto's mother used to restrain the beast when it was within her. She hoped to learn the technique to teach it to Nariko or whoever decided to take on the task of becoming the next container.

Reiki flicked her wrist again, sending the whip outward to wrap around Sakura's waist. She wanted this, _all _of _this_, over with; she would end it tonight one way or the other. Her nerves had been drawn to a breaking point with all of this ridiculous crap. Pulling forward, she wrapped her foe in the whip. If Sakura did not break free which she had all confidence the woman could, she had the ability to kill her by sending a blast of chakra through the whip to effectively fry her with the same severity of a strong electrical shock.

"Do you give up?" Reiki inquired, glowering at the trapped woman. She sent a small jolt through the whip but was too angry to even smile with sadistic satisfaction as her victim convulsed in pain.

"NO!" she bellowed with determination, breaking free from the whip.

"Can she beat, Reiki?" Sai asked, watching as the women devolved into a good old-fashioned cat fight by latching onto one another's hair.

"No," Naruto answered directly. "She could have burned Sakura to a crisp just then but didn't. She also could do it by using her fire techniques but she hasn't done that either. She doesn't want to kill her. She just wants to be left alone. For me to be left alone."

The onlookers released a unified and loud "Oh!" when Reiki tripped the pink haired ninja who immediately went to the ground but dragged her adversary down with her. They commenced to wallowing on the ground while switching to the tact of ripping off clothing. Reiki's thin kimono top was the first to go, shredding as Sakura used brute strength to tear it from her body. The platinum blond physically replied in kind, relieving her adversary of the customary red top she wore.

"Clothes are coming off," Sai announced tonelessly without taking his eyes from the women who were shirtless. Needless to say, one was more alluring to look at than the other. "Should we stop them?"

"This is so much more fun than any fight I've seen in a while," the blonde chuckled staring at his half naked wife who was clutching the chestless wonder's bra. He winced when she punched Sakura with her free hand causing her to fall backwards which unfettered her opponent from the bra despite there not being much to free.

Sakura rolled over while grabbing her rival by the throat. She had the momentary victory of being on top and besting her opponent. Straddling Reiki's belly, she decided it was time to return the favor by liberating her foe from the confines of her bra. She ripped off the other woman's bra and received a loud roar of approval from the mostly male gathering. Her triumph was short lived as Reiki hit her in the belly with two chakra infused palms launching her into the air. She hit the ground a few feet away with an audible thud not wasting time before getting to her feet.

"Okay, now we should stop it," Naruto said when Sakura gathered chakra in her hands with the intent of releasing another Cherry Blossom Impact on the woman lying on the ground who was attempting to cover her massive breasts with her hands. He moved between Sakura and his wife while Sai assisted Reiki to her feet.

"What are you doing? Move!" Sakura bellowed furiously.

"No. I'm protecting you. She will kill you if you keep coming at her," he warned the stubborn and stupid woman, crossing his arms over his chest. "Leave us alone, Sakura. I don't want you, and I never will."

Naruto turned his back on her, taking off his jacket to put it around his wife's half naked body. Leading her away from the quietly murmuring multitude, he ignored the questioning expressions on the faces of the disappointed spectators. It was none of their business why he stopped the fight that could have lasted for days and would inevitably had a fatal outcome. He held his wife to his side protectively as they walked home in silence. He had refused to allow her to become a murderer over such a worthless, trifling matter.

"Nariko is with your mom and dad. You can get her in the morning," Naruto told her to break the silence. "Are you all right?"

"I suppose," Reiki mumbled, grasping his jacket tighter around her. "I want to get away from here for a while. Away from these people."

"Where would we go? And to do what?" he asked, surprised when she pulled away from him.

"I don't know! Just away from here!" she cried in frustration. "We never even had a honeymoon!"

"All right. I'll take you somewhere," he said, pulling her into his arms to kiss her. "I know just the place to go."


	16. Chapter 16

Reiki lay on the bed fanning herself as she stared at the ceiling. Waiting for her body to melt was not exactly what she had in mind for a vacation. When Naruto said 'Sand' she had been hoping that an ocean would come along with it but hell no. It was sand, sand, and nothing but sand in the fabulous village of Sunny-gakure as she had begun to call it much to her husband's chagrin. Being overheated made her a very cantankerous individual. She rolled over lazily, brushing her fingers across the pink heat flushed cheek of her sleeping red headed child whose ringlets were now pressed to her head with sweat. Nariko had been cranky and whiny before finally passing out from heat related exhaustion for her nap. She did not take to the heat too well either.

Naruto had left them at the hotel to go see his friend, the Kazekage of Sunagakure. Reiki wondered if there was anyone he had met that he had not eventually turned into a friend. Gaara had gone as far as to almost kill Naruto yet he had become a great friend and ally in the end. Go figure.

Pushing herself up off the bed, Reiki went to the window to look over the village that was the same color as the sand that surrounded it. It was not hard to see why it was called The Village Hidden by Sand. If it was not camouflaged by being the same color, the occasional sand storms that swept through and covered it up would also be another reason for the name. How do these people not just live here but thrive in such an oppressive place? The heat alone was about to wear on her last nerve. Since it was just her and her little girl in the room, she stripped down to nothing but her underwear in her desperate attempt to cool off. It was too damn hot. Since they were five stories up, she doubted anyone would randomly look up to see her sitting in the window catching what little bit of a cool breeze sporadically bounced off the sand dunes. Settling herself on the ledge, she closed her eyes to enjoy the cool air that was blowing through the large open arch that served as a window.

"Hey, Honey!" Naruto yelled, bursting into the room.

Reiki screamed in surprise and in her startled state fell out of the window. She was instantly surrounded by a gargantuan hand made of the gritty, gross sand. It was the only thing holding her up and keeping her from making a rather painful and somewhat ugly mark on the packed sand that served as a road below.

"What the –" She stared down at the giant hand comprised of desert material as it lifted her back into the window and set her on the brownish red tiles of the floor of their hotel room. Her eyes followed the trail of sand as it receded into a huge brown pottery vessel carried on the back of a short, redheaded man who was staring at her with an expressionless pale face.

"Uh, Reiki, I would like for you to meet, Gaara," Naruto said, throwing his almost naked wife her kimono.

Just when she thought it was impossible to get any hotter, embarrassment set in and nearly set her skin ablaze as she endured a full body blush of excruciating humiliation. She pulled on the purple kimono wincing as it ground across the grit that had stuck to her sweat slicked skin. YUCK! She bowed partly out of respect but mostly to hide her mortification, keeping her eyes plastered to the floor. The shockingly white grout between the brick red tiles was simply astounding. How did they keep it so pristine with all of this damn brown sand around?

"Your wife?" Gaara inquired as if he still could not believe it. His voice was soft but shockingly deep for his diminutive size. He was a few inches shorter than her with the same kind of oppressively dark auburn hair as her daughter. His skin was outrageously fair for him to live in the sunny desert.

Reiki dared to raise her eyes, looking into a set of teal green pupil less eyes that showed quite a bit of amusement at this time. What incredibly strange yet remarkably captivating eyes. The deep black rings around his eyes did not detract from their unique beauty but instead seemed to enhance it. She offered him her hand when he reached for it which he elegantly took in his shockingly cool hand to bring it to his lips. Her eyes meandered to her husband who was observing the exchange between her and his friend with a mixture of pride and jealousy. How odd; usually jealousy was not part of his repertoire of emotions. Excitement, insane happiness, a hyperactive zeal for life; those were his usual emotional states of being. The few times she had seen him sad or angry had been heart wrenching or fear inducing, therefore, she was glad it did not happen often.

"Yes, _my_ wife," Naruto stated with such emphasis on 'my' it caused the other two people to gaze at him questioningly.

"I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Kazekage," Reiki proclaimed formally.

"Please, just call me Gaara," he urged her affably. "You don't have to be so formal either."

A short, sharp cry from the bed caught their attention. Nariko was sitting up in the middle of the large bed rubbing her eyes with her chubby little fists. The noisy adults had woken her up, and she was not very happy. Her already pink face proceeded to deepen to a cherry red color before she opened her mouth and squalled from being prematurely awakened from her nap.

Reiki watched in disbelief as the Kazekage went to the bed to retrieve the wailing nine month old. She smiled as he picked the crying child up as comfortably and naturally as if she were his own before setting her on his slim hip.

Nariko instantaneously stopped crying to stare inquisitively at the peculiar stranger holding her. She reached up to his spiky red hair, burying her little hands in it. Squealing with delight, she grabbed two fistfuls of the auburn spikes and pulled with all her might.

"Nariko, baby stop, that hurts!" Reiki admonished her sharply.

"It's okay," Gaara assured her, wincing as the baby pulled his hair again. "Has she ever seen anyone with hair the same color as hers?"

"Not ones that are alive," Naruto muttered, receiving another questioning glance. "She has seen my mother. A ghost."

"Oh, right," his friend returned, giving him a quick glimpse of concern. He carefully held the baby's hands to uncurl her tiny fingers from his hair before she snatched him bald. "She's very pretty. She looks like her mother."

'When in the hell did he become such a lady killer?' Naruto pondered silently, regarding his wife with covetous eyes as she blushed deeply – again. He was beginning to think they should have gone some place cold where she would always be fully clothed and not wearing a permanent blush. The Land of Snow maybe. At least they would not have walked in on her being virtually naked. He kept a watchful eye on her as she began to chat with Gaara as if they were the ones who had been friends for years. For some reason, he felt like he had suddenly gone invisible to them.

They discussed married life and children which Gaara knew nothing about then switched to talking about being leader of a village which Reiki knew nothing about. Before he left, Gaara was sure to regal her with the story of how he and Naruto first met and how they had tried to kill each other. It was a fascinating story and it was almost comical how Reiki and her daughter who she held in her lap were both held spellbound by the unlikely storyteller. They sat on the bed with a gape mouthed expression on both of their faces while they listened to every word. Once the tale was finished, Gaara left but not before inviting them for dinner at his house that night which Reiki instantly accepted without even asking Naruto.

"You didn't ask me," he pouted after the door closed behind his friend.

"You came to here to visit him on our _vacation_ didn't you?" She allowed too much sarcasm to hang on the word vacation for his comfort.

"Yeah, but…well, what was all that about anyway?" Naruto questioned her accusingly to change the subject, waving his hand in the air as if to dispel his unreasonably bad attitude.

"What was what?" she asked innocently, handing him Nariko. She was in desperate need of a bath after being sweaty and covered with sand.

"I thought he was my best friend not yours," he groused following her into the bathroom.

"Jealous?" she queried snarkily, turning the water temperature just a smidge below lukewarm to fill the tub. She wanted to find relief from the heat as well as the grime. Although her pouty and distracted husband did not seem to notice, she began to undress in front of him.

"No, I'm not jealous!" he bellowed vehemently in his defense, his eyes following the kimono as it slid from her body and to the floor. As he stared at her naked body, he added a grudging, "Maybe."

"Of what, Sweetie?" she inquired with genuine curiosity. What in the world did he have to be jealous of? She liked Gaara and he was incredibly easy to talk to despite his somewhat scary appearance. Nariko loved him since he was a fellow redhead and something about him captivated her childish attention. But seriously? "Honestly, Naruto. The one time you choose to get all possessive and jealous and it could not be more ridiculously misplaced," she grumbled, carefully stepping into the tub after undressing the baby. "He's your best friend! You should be happy we're getting along so well. Most wives hate their husband's friends. I tolerate most of yours but I really like him. And I love you, so what's your problem?"

"I don't know," he muttered, blushing slightly because she was correct. He handed his wife the naked baby who was about to wiggle out of his grip to get into the water.

"We should have gone to the Land of Waves the way you two love water," he commented, kneeling down by the tub to splash water on his daughter who giggled with delight. He smiled, drizzling water over her head to be treated with more happy chuckles.

"Oh, yes, I have an extreme fondness for water," Reiki gushed elatedly, bouncing the baby up and down in the water. "Remember the first time we – "

"It was in that lake on the way to find your mom," he interjected, leaning over to kiss her. "Yeah. How could I forget that?"

"You can't and neither can I," she remarked, placing her wet hand on his heated cheek. She kissed his lips which were warm against her cool ones. The water had done wonders to bring down her body temperature. She might be spending the rest of her stay in Sunagakure in the tub to withstand it.

~...~

Reiki stared at the round stucco structure that was Gaara's home. She was glad he had invited them over for dinner and looked forward to seeing him again. The chill wind that blew her loose wrap dress that tied around her neck threatened to reveal more than her legs as it picked up a bit in intensity. She shivered from the unexpected icy stare from her husband complete with an 'I told you so' self-righteous smirk because he had told her to wear more clothes. She had stubbornly refused because she had finally stopped sweating after sunset and did not want to start again. Frowning, she knew she should have listened because it does get cold in the desert at night.

The door opened to reveal Temari whose perpetual expression of deep thought or aggravation, sometimes it was hard to tell which, had been replaced with a welcoming smile. It was hard to believe this was Gaara's sister with her blond hair and deep green eyes. There was not much of a family resemblance between them. Then there was Kankurō , the middle sibling and Gaara's older brother. Now that the disconcerting purple make up was gone she could see the definite resemblance between the brothers. Kakuro was taller with dark brown hair and eyes and tanned skin, despite those differences there was definite similarity in their appearance. Their personalities, however, could not be more different. Gaara willingly came to take the gurgling baby from Reiki while Kankurō stared in unbridled horror at the child. He did not even attempt to hide the fact he disliked children. Neither did he try to hide the fact he did, however, appreciate the appearance of the mother of the abhorred child when his dark eyes moved to her.

Reiki threw him a violent look of revulsion when he gave her a leering grin. She felt like poking her husband and telling him 'that is the one you need to be wary of, not Garra.' Remaining silent, she moved to stand between Naruto and Gaara as if they could protect her from the lascivious perusal and dirty thoughts of Kankurō who was staring at her like a rapist waiting to happen.

Temari seemed to be aware of her pervert brother's thoughts and 'accidentally' stomped his foot as she was walking by the couch where he was sitting.

"Oops! Sorry!" she exclaimed, not even bothering to feign an apologetic tone.

Reiki stifled her laugh. She knew she would like Temari. The woman seemed plucky and high spirited with a major stubborn streak; of course she would have to be like that dealing with two brothers. She also liked the fact that she seemed to be the only woman so far who did not view Naruto with a lustful eye and flirt with him every chance she had. It was very much the opposite. Temari saw him as just another annoying little brother and an extended part of the family. She had no romantic interest in him whatsoever. Her romantic interest lay with another person from Konoha.

"Reiki, come with me. I need to ask you about someone very important to me that lives in your village," she said, taking her new friend by the hand to lead her to the balcony.

"What about – " She turned to see that her baby girl was in capable hands and was cooing happily at her redheaded caretaker. Nariko was enjoying the attention lavished on her by her father and the man who held her.

"She will be fine. My brother is not the man he used to be," she explained although it was apparent by the way he was patiently allowing the baby to pat his face and pull his hair. "Your husband is an amazing man."

"Yeah, he is," Reiki agreed, staring at the gorgeous blonde who turned to give her a smile just before her new found friend pulled her from the room. She had been told all about the monster Gaara used to be, and it had frightened her. It was a relief she had not known him then. At the time, it had not seemed so fortunate that she had been absent from the village during both the Chūnin exams and the failed invasion attempt by Sunagakure incited by that treacherous snake Orochimaru. If she had met Gaara in the past she would most likely still hate him in the present because she was not as forgiving as her husband.

"Being Naruto's wife, I'm sure you know Shikamaru Nara, right?" Temari queried, appearing very nervous suddenly. She glanced around the dark balcony apprehensively as if to make sure no one was nearby listening in on their conversation.

"Yes, I do. Why?" Reiki wondered why there was a need for such secrecy over such a trivial question. She stared at the scroll that Temari had withdrawn from under short kimono before it was shoved into her hand.

"I know I have no right to ask you this, but can you give this to him?" She held onto Reiki's hand after pressing her fingers around the scroll, pleading with her wordlessly using her big green eyes that looked so desperate and sad.

"Of course. I wouldn't mind at all," her new friend answered without hesitation. "You're in love with him?"

"Yes," she replied breathlessly, a wistful expression on her face along with relief.

'Thank Kami!' Reiki thought to herself releasing a deep sigh. She had been afraid that Shikamaru would be stuck with one of the Konoha Harpies. She would do whatever it took to make sure a relationship happened between him and Temari. It appeared that Shikamaru would be their daughter's sensei and most likely her godfather. Temari would make a rather magnificent godmother.

~...~

"Oh, Kami, you women and your romantic crap!" Naruto exclaimed after receiving his wife's explanation for the scroll that he found in her possession upon their return to the hotel room. "So meddlesome…it's their love life. Can't you leave it between the two of them?"

"No. Don't you want to see the godfather of our child happy and suitably married? I damn sure do and I don't see that happening with a female from Konoha unless she's a civilian. I don't think his mother would appreciate that very much being a chūnin-level kunoichi herself. Besides, I think she'd like Temari since their personalities are so alike. Shika also needs a woman who can motivate his lethargic ass," Reiki said, pulling her husband into her arms.

"You're right, you're right, you're always right," he consented, kissing her fleetingly.

"Mmmm…you're such a good husband," she murmured, sliding her cold hands underneath his shirt to press them against his warm belly. She gave him a playful, evil grin when he hissed in shock and wriggled away from her.

"Because I know the first and most important rule of being a good husband…always tell her she's right even when she's wrong," he joked, holding her hands in his to warm them up.

"Hahaha," she snapped, tilting her lips up toward his to receive his kiss. She sighed into his mouth when his tongue slid between her lips searching for hers. Her fingers moved into his spiky blond hair, tugging slightly when he lightly sucked on her tongue. Every time he did that it drove her crazy because she could only think about how it felt when he applied that small bit of suction to other parts of her anatomy; her earlobe, her neck, her nipples, her…oh, Kami! She grabbed his arm, tearing her lips from his when she felt his finger pressing against what she was thinking next.

"Since Nariko is spending the night with our new best friends, why don't we get to the honeymoon part of this vacation?" he inquired, caressing the sensitive, blood engorged protuberance between her folds until he drew a moan from her lips.

"Oh, yes, I think we should," Reiki gasped, pressing her hand against the throbbing erection he had developed.

With that, Naruto picked her up, holding her body against his. He groaned when she encircled his waist with her legs and covered his mouth with hers while he carried her to the bed. Laying her down on the bed, he pushed apart the dress to touch her large round breasts. He freed himself from his pants while he was kissing her so he could thrust into her ready body.

"Naruto," his incredibly sexy wife exhaled into his ear when he settled himself deep inside of her.

Reiki felt his body warming beyond the normal temperature range as he unhurriedly moved his hips using extended, languid thrusts. Opening her eyes, she was not surprised to see the orange, fireless flames erupt from his skin and lick at her body giving her a mild electrical type charge. Her whole body began to hum and vibrate in resonance with his. The last time this happened Nariko appeared nine months later. Tomorrow she would begin picking out baby names. Hopefully it will be a boy this time.

"Reiki," he practically growled in her ear, his voice taking on that rough gravelly sound.

"I know," she mumbled, closing her eyes and pulling his mouth down to her shoulder. She released a small cry from the pain when his teeth broke the skin. Kurama required his ransom to allow for the fertilization to take place – the blessing of the beast.

"Sweetheart, I'm – " He was about to apologize but she could not stand to hear it because it wasn't his fault.

"Don't," she ordered him, pressing her finger against his blood covered lips. "With every compromise, a sacrifice must be made. To have a child this is ours. I'll pay it."

Naruto held her tightly as they rode out their simultaneous orgasms. He clutched her to his chest, his tears falling on her neck as she writhed beneath him from the aftershocks not only of pleasure but of the chakra that had transferred from his body to hers during the climax.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, rolling onto his side while keeping her shaking form close to his body.

"No," she lied, feeling as if she was being singed by fire from the inside out. It hurt like hell but she would never tell him that. Pressing her face against his chest, she dried her tears on his soft shirt before he could see them.

"You're a horrible liar but I love you anyway," he whispered in her ear, kissing her cheek.

"I love you too," she sniffled, clinging to him as if her life depended on it.

"Everything will be fine as long as we have each other. You believe that don't you?"

"Yes, I do." More so now than she ever had in her life.


	17. Chapter 17

BOOM! The explosion shattered the peace of Sunakagure and literally rocked their world. Naruto and Reiki were out of the bed at the window before the hotel stopped shaking beneath their feet. There was a large cloud of sand above the Kazekage's house.

"Damn," Naruto muttered, hopping out of the window with ease to jump across to the roof of the building next door.

"My baby," Reiki gasped, watching the orange blur hop from building to building on his way to Gaara's house to see what was happening. She followed behind him before the fear overtook her and paralyzed her. Her baby was there in the middle of whatever was happening.

When they got there, they saw Temari with Nariko clutched tightly to her chest while fending off an attack from a redheaded man by shielding their bodies with her fan. Kankurō appeared in front of them, sending out his puppet, Crow, to protect them even further while his sister sheltered the child. Gaara was in front facing an attacker with incredibly long blond hair and only one visible blue eye with the other being obscured by the lengthy bangs.

"That is a guy right?" Naruto asked his wife when she landed softly on the ground beside him.

"I-I think so," she stammered after staring at the blond for a long moment while he and Gaara faced off silently. "Does it matter?"

"No," he answered quickly bounding forward to insert himself between the glaring men. It was time to do something. He hit the effeminate blonde with a rasengan to knock him back from his best friend.

'What is that?' Reiki wondered when something that looked like a clay sculpture of a bird flew through the air toward her husband and Gaara. She watched in disbelief as the thing exploded almost in her husband's face, knocking him to the ground. As she rushed to him, Gaara moved around him to the intruder who had his hands inside a pouch tied at his waist. She immediately pressed her hands to his face to heal the burns from the close range explosion. Closing her eyes, she could not erase the image of the charred and bloodied flesh marring his face so she held her healing palms steady to make it go away. When he groaned she opened her eyes to see all but a few scratches were gone from his cheeks and forehead. She helped him sit up before pressing a kiss to his forehead. It was incredible that it had not killed him or blown his face off entirely; the damn beast had his good points and protected his vessel well.

"Go help Temari and protect Nariko. I'm all right," Naruto told her, pressing his hand against her cheek briefly before he jumped up and ran toward Gaara and his adversary.

Reiki looked over at the others to see Kankurō's wooden puppet release poison darts at their attacker. She stared in disbelief and confusion when they made contact with the man's body and they made the hollow thunk sound of a dart entering wood. Running toward the man in the weird costume and purple make up, she was surprised when he caught her in his arms and threw her toward Temari.

"Get back!" he yelled, covering his head as an explosion sounded and thick smoke covered the area. "Get out of here with that baby!"

"Wait!" Reiki screamed when Temari grabbed her arm and started pulling her away. _Wood; he was made of wood? _She replayed the sound of the darts making contact in her head. Coughing noisily, she allowed her friend to lead her to the edge out of the worst part of the smoke. _Smoke. Fire burns wood._ She had an idea.

"Reiki, no!" Temari screamed, clutching the crying and terrified Nariko to her chest. She could not hold the child and grab the mother at the same time so she let the foolhardy woman go and took off to safety with the baby girl. Her main concern at this time was protecting the child.

Reiki ran through the blinding, choking smoke bumping into something solid yet slightly soft which was a good thing because she hit it with enough force it knocked her on her ass. She screamed when two rough hands seized her and shook her.

"Reiki! What the hell are you doing here?" Kankurō bellowed, setting her on her feet.

"Move!" she screeched belligerently, ignoring the explosions going off in the distance.

The mysterious blonde must be setting off bombs again directed at Naruto and Gaara. She had no time to worry about that. Moving in front of Kankurō, Reiki pursed her lips while gathering oil in her mouth. Spitting it out along with a fireball, she continued the flow of oil once it ignited to make a wall of flame appear and burst through the smoke to envelope the unsuspecting redhead that had no idea what was happening behind the thick gray veil.

"Wow! What the hell! You really are a fire breathing dragon!" Kankurō hollered, backing away so swiftly he tripped over his own feet and landed on his butt.

"Get up and go save your brother and my husband!" she shrieked, turning to run in the direction she had left Temari. She doubted she killed the man but that was never her intent. He only needed to be distracted temporarily to give them a reprieve for her escape and for Kankurō to go assist the others.

Meanwhile, Naruto had his hands full fending off the blonde who was tougher than he looked. He stood on the sand wave behind Gaara as they rose further and further into the sky in pursuit of the man on the huge clay bird. There was no time to gape in horrified awe or wonder why a bird made of mud could fly. He only knew they had to get rid this guy, one way or another, who had attacked them.

"I'm tired of this crap," Naruto muttered, releasing his chakra to form a Big Ball Rasengan. He loosed the ball of pure concentrated energy from the Nine Tails' chakra reserve, hitting the implausible bird right in the tail feathers. It shrieked in response before bursting into shards of pottery.

Gaara immediately encapsulated them in a Sand Shield to protect them from the sharp flying projectiles. Once the clay slivers halted pounding the sand, he removed it to see where the blonde rider had gone. Unfortunately, the sand wave had stopped his fall and he stood right in front of the redhead. Resorting to hand to hand maneuvers, Deidara punched him in the face in hopes of catching his target unawares by his unexpectedly close proximity. But instead he was the one stunned when the face cracked and fell apart to reveal it was only a sand clone.

"Surprise, asshole," an irate blonde with red eyes and a decidedly feral look about him growled.

"Damn," he mumbled in return. He knew he had pissed off the wrong person.

~...~

Reiki screamed when a metallic cable wrapped around her waist. Her mouth immediately closed when a deadly looking stinger appeared in front of her face that was attached to the end of the cable.

"Smart girl," a smooth calm voice sounded behind her.

Reiki wrinkled her nose as the stench of burned wood filled her nostrils. She pressed her hands against the cable around her waist sending a steady stream of chakra through it wanting it to reignite the body and burn him further. However instead of letting her go, he only tightened the line around her threatening to squeeze her in two. She instantly ceased trying to set him on fire again when the pain became too excruciating. What the hell is this guy? How can a puppet have free will, thinking and functioning like a human? Kankurō had some pretty amazing puppets but nothing like this.

"Who – what are you?" she wheezed, refusing to beg him to let her go.

Her gold eyes focused on the stinger that resembled that of a scorpion as it loomed ominously in front of her. She edged backwards from it when it moved toward her face. Her body came into contact with her captor and she flinched away, turning so she could see him well for the first time. She was taken aback by the young, puppet looking man with shaggy red hair and wide staring brown eyes.

"My name is Sasori. I used to be a puppet master in this village. And you…," he said, stepping forward to trace her cheek and jaw with his smooth wooden finger. A sinister grin tilted his lips when she shied away from his touch and shuddered. "You will be a lovely addition to my puppets. I might have a special use for you."

Reiki closed her eyes, swallowing convulsively to hold down the bile that rose in her throat. She would not dare to imagine what that special use could be. Would she get splinters? Shaking her head, she forced out the horrifying and sickening thought.

"Let her go, Sasori. Fight me," Kankurō snarled, attempting to pull her out of the puppet's grasp but the metal cord enclosed her too securely.

"Stop, please," she pleaded when his hold constricted on her. Neither man was sure which one of them she was talking to so they both halted their movements.

"Let her go!" Naruto commanded the man holding his wife. He appeared behind her and Kankurō with Gaara, holding the man's companion by the collar. He shook him like a dog shakes caught prey as if to emphasize that he held something the hostage taker might want.

"Kill him. I don't care," Sasori shot back with a smirk.

"Why you – " Naruto lunged forward, throwing Deidara backwards to be held by Gaara who wrapped him in a cocoon of sand to restrain him.

"Stop!" Sasori bellowed the warning, bringing the stinger to her neck with the point resting against her jugular vein.

Reiki held her breath, afraid if she moved the slightest bit she would impale herself on the razor sharp point laying against her neck. Her wide fearful eyes caught her husband's which were still red with the elongated pupil. His teeth and nails had not receded at all, and she was afraid he was in danger of the demon taking over and doing something stupid. A girlish shriek that rivaled anything she could manage burst forth from the blonde encased in sand while Gaara squeezed him a boa constrictor. She felt the stinger withdraw from her throat and breathed in a deep gulp of much needed air. He lied. He does care what happens to his partner.

Without warning, the stinger thrust forward hitting Kankurō in the chest. He cried out in pain and hit the ground with his hand clutching the spot where he was stabbed. A poison had been injected and was already flowing through his system. He watched helplessly as his brother released the blonde and dropped to his knees beside him. He could not open his mouth to tell him not to let go of the prisoner that he would be okay. But he knew without anyone telling him he would definitely not be all right. His insides burned as if they had been set on fire, and he could not move. Somehow he knew he was going to die.

Reiki was startled when she was abruptly thrust forward into her husband's arms. Pain shot through both of them when her head contacted his chin from the hard shove. Both of them saw stars from the unexpected meeting of their bodies, but somehow managed to maintain consciousness. Her head and his chin throbbed from the forceful connection that had been made.

"We'll be back. When we come back we will not fail in our mission to retrieve the tailed beast," Sasori warned, literally pulling himself back together as he recoiled the wire into his body. His now calm and emotionless brown eyes turned to Naruto before he added, "We will get the Nine Tails too. But you already knew that."

Reiki looked up at her husband, searching his face for an answer. What did he mean? Why did they want the horrid creatures? She was even more confused and terrified by what was happening now. She grunted when he held her tighter. Her body already ached from the abuse inflicted on her from the stranger and Naruto's firm hold only made it worse.

"What is he talking about? What do you know? What's going on?" she asked, staring up at him questioningly as he kept a close eye on the other two as they figuratively tucked their tails for today and left defeated.

Naruto had no doubt they would be back. He knew who they were; Jiraiya had warned him about them months ago and their intent. He had also been warned not to tell her because her father and mother had no intention of her knowing. The two men were members of the group called the Akatsuki who planned to retrieve the tailed beasts to take over the shinobi world. They would no doubt begin the Fourth Shinobi World War. Looking down at his panicked and fearful wife, he knew there was no time to explain all of that now.

"We need to get Kankurō to his grandmother, Chiyo, or he will die," Naruto informed her, pushing her away to help Gaara.

Reiki also needed to find Temari and Nariko. She trusted the woman to keep her child safe but she needed to hold her daughter to comfort herself at this time.

~...~

They had found Temari at Chiyo's house when they arrived with the ailing Kankurō. Reiki held her daughter as they both cried, her from relief and Nariko from being afraid. She was thankful for the calming influence of Temari who talked to her not only to soothe her but to understand what had happened as her grandmother began working on her unconscious brother.

It had been hours since Chiyo began the healing process, trying to rid Kankurō's system of the poison. Nothing seemed to be working and the old woman was understandably growing weary. Everyone else stood around feeling useless, not knowing what to do and hating the powerlessness they felt.

Reiki held the sleeping Nariko against her chest, nuzzling her nose into the child's soft curls. She handed the child to Naruto to hold because she could and must assist with saving Kankuro. Kneeling beside the fatigued woman, she pressed her hand against the sweet grandmother's shoulder returning the smile that showed the woman's weariness and worry. She placed her other hand on Kankurō's chest next to Chiyo's and started the flow of healing chakra from her body to his. Her other hand was sending a strengthening flow into the body of the woman to help her endure. Her body was wracked with an unexpected burst of pain that felt as if liquid fire had been dumped into her veins. Ignoring it, she kept going, fighting through the agonizing discomfort.

"Reiki, what about – " Naruto began but stopped in midsentence when she shook her head. He was going to ask her about the pending pregnancy. Trusting her that she knew what her body could handle, he sighed deeply and ran his free hand through his blond spikes fighting the urge to rip them out in frustration. It had been a given that life would never be simple for them but did it have to be so damn perilous? He pulled his sleeping daughter closer against his chest, kissing the top of her head.

"It hurts," Kankurō moaned, his brown eyes fluttering open. He grimaced in pain unable to make the smart ass comment that hung on his tongue when he saw Reiki above him.

"Good," Chiyo sighed, tears flowing from her tired eyes. "That means you're going to live."

~\..'../~

* * *

Reiki held Nariko as Naruto said good-bye. It was time to return to Konoha so they could recover from their vacation. They had already stayed longer than scheduled due to certain unexpected events. She passed off the baby to him so she could say her good-byes. Standing in front of Gaara, she smiled at him as he looked up at her with his astounding teal eyes that betrayed no emotion.

"It was great meeting you. If you ever need us – " she started to say but he cut her off with a strong embrace.

"I know. That goes for you as well," he told her, his lips grazing her cheek as he pulled back from the hug.

Reiki was elated and a bit flabbergasted from the uncharacteristic display of emotions from the stoic redhead. The only time she had seen him loosen up and allow himself to feel anything was when he held Nariko. She offered him one last smile before saying her heartfelt farewell to Chiyo and Temari.

"Don't forget the scroll," Temari whispered during her hug.

"I won't," Reiki giggled feeling like a partner in crime. It was so absurd yet so romantic to be responsible for delivering what could only be a love note.

"Thank you, my dear. I won't forget what you've done for us," Chiyo said with a brief hug.

Reiki heard the exasperated sigh from her husband and felt like stomping his foot to quiet him, but he was too far away. Women always have long good-byes. He should know that by now. He's been the recipient of a few extended and very pleasurable partings himself so he should hold onto his patience - what very little of it he possessed.

"And you," she muttered, feigning aggravation as she stepped up to Kankurō. She put her arms around his neck nearly knocking him off his crutches. "You better take care of yourself."

"I will," he murmured, pressing his cheek against hers since he could not hug her back. It had angered him severely at first that not only had he gotten injured but that _she_ of all people had been one of the people responsible for saving his life. He had not understood why it bothered him; it just did. She never reminded him of that fact in the many hours of sitting beside his bed, talking to him and holding his hand during his arduous recovery that was not done yet. He now thought of her as another sister; the one he never wanted but still had nonetheless.

"Reiki, are you ready?" Naruto asked, shifting the now sleeping child in his arms. "You took so long you bored Nariko to sleep."

After sharing one last laugh with their friends, they were off on their journey to return home.

* * *

Author's Note: I just need to clear up a few things and hopefully stop a lot of the bitching and complaining about this story.

I purposely left out a lot of details from the story. I'm not recreating the anime or the manga. Some things I have mentioned or covered in later chapters. I have taken liberties with the timeline of the story and changed events or left them out entirely. Why? Because I can. This is fan FICTION. I have also not made time skips clear because I don't see any sense in explaining a time change reference when it should be inferrred by what was written.

Second of all, this is a romance/drama. Yes, I'm focusing mainly on their relationship because that's what romance is. Second of all, I'm a woman, not a guy. I've only written romance stories before now. I'm trying my hand at fight scenes for the first time ever and hoping they don't suck. So if you're wondering why this story has a really lopsided, romantic slant, mystery solved.

So with this explanation I hope that helps a few people understand things. If you have any questions or even suggestions, go ahead and let me know. Thank you for reading and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.


	18. Chapter 18

Reiki grabbed Shikamaru by the collar of his flak jacket pulling him behind the nearby building. She was surprised to see the man's usually narrow eyes opened wide and round as he stared at her in gape mouthed shock.

"Stop that! You look like you're catching flies. I've got something I want to give to you," she whispered, standing close to him.

"Oh, Kami, I must be dreaming," he moaned when she reached inside of her kimono top. He quickly found out he was awake when her hand came across his cheek to deliver a stinging, sobering slap.

"Not that, you idiot! You would be dreaming for me to offer you something that only belongs to Naruto," she hissed, producing the scroll from Temari. She smiled when he gave into a rare smile on his usually emotionless face. Apparently he recognized the seal and knew exactly who it was from.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed, grabbing her and kissing her on the forehead.

Reiki would swear she heard a grunt of disappointment but from who and where? She shrugged her shoulders, watching Shikamaru's face as he read the scroll. At first he seemed elated but his face quickly darkened into an expression somewhere between anger and fear. She laid her hand on his shoulder to draw his attention to her face. It worried her because she had never seen him look so grim even for him. She knew it must be terrible news.

"What is it?" she asked, growing more concerned when he sighed deeply and leaned against the wall behind him.

"Temari is pregnant. I guess it happened when I went to visit her a few months ago. What do we do?" he inquired, staring at Reiki as if she held the answer he was seeking.

'Dumbass!' she wanted to scream but could not. Who was she to say anything when the same thing had happened to her? Of course her marriage had been inevitable but that did not matter at this time in reference to his situation. A squeak like that of a rat and movement to her left caught her eye. There was indeed a rat in their presence. A flash of pink moving past her fast captured her attention. Using her chakra whip, she flung it out to wrap around the eavesdropper's waist to pull her back while enfolding her in the powerful stream of energy.

"What the hell are you doing, Pinky?" Reiki demanded, feeling Shikamaru pressing into her back. She shifted forward because he was taking 'I got your back' to a whole new and uncomfortable level. She could handle this insolent snoop because she had before.

"Let me take care of her," he said, moving around her.

"I can – "

"I know you can, but I also know you're pregnant so let me have her," he stated sternly, glaring at her stubbornly.

"She's what? Again? Dammit!" Sakura screeched as Shikamaru took her by the wrists with a shadow jutsu to hold her.

"We're going to speak to your sensei. I don't think Lady Tsunade will be too pleased to know that you have stalking her son-in-law and harassing her daughter," he warned the pink haired harpy.

'Oh, great. Now I'm going to be a coddled kunoichi for the entire pregnancy,' Reiki thought to herself. She was irritated yet it was endearing that her husband had already put out the word to his most trusted friends to watch out for her. Her attention returned to the pink haired threat and she withdrew the chakra to allow Shikamaru have her completely. She wondered what he planned on doing with her. If only there was a steep cliff nearby she knew what she would do with Sakura.

"She's all yours. Come by the house later if you need to talk. Naruto and I both will be there," Reiki informed him, staring at the gossip queen who had been hoping for something juicy to tell. She was sure that Sakura had probably been hoping that she was privy to a special private meeting between her and Shikamaru. The woman's tenacity to find some way to come between her and Naruto was frightening.

Reiki patted Shikamaru on the shoulder and walked away. She was weary from the whole matter and decided it would be best if she goes back to the office. Besides, it would be great to have a front row seat to what was about to happen.

~...~

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be off today," her mother reminded her when her daughter strolled into the office.

"There's a problem," Shikamaru informed the Hokage before Reiki could utter a word.

"Sakura? What are you doing here?" she asked, her gold eyes moving from her best medical ninja to her best chūnin. "What's going on? Is she under arrest or something?"

"That's up to you, ma'am," he responded, going on to list Sakura's most recent insidious acts that she had committed over the last few months.

Reiki watched her mother's fair skin grow pink then steadily become redder as her anger rose. She grabbed Shizune's hand when her mother's eyes nearly bugged out of her head and her face was crimson with fury.

"I don't want mom to kill her," she whispered to her friend.

"She won't. I don't think," Shizune whispered back.

"OUT!" Tsunade bellowed pointing to the door. Her eyes turned to her daughter and her assistant as they huddled behind Reiki's desk for some degree of protection. "Get out. I need a moment alone with my top medical ninja."

Reiki and Shizune bustled out the door to leave Shikamaru and Sakura in privacy with Tsunade. Reiki pressed her ear to door, screaming in terror when a loud thump sounded on the other side while the door shook from the heavy object hit it.

"And don't listen at the door! Go away!" her mother yelled, making the two women giggle like they did when they were much younger.

"What are you doing?" her father asked when he met the laughing duo halfway down the hall.

"Hey, Daddy!" Reiki squealed, jumping into his arms.

"Daddy, huh?" he muttered, unable to stop smiling at her while she petted his thick white mane. He knew she wanted something from him. Even at her age she still indulged in the tell-tell sign of calling him Daddy and lavishing affection on him when she was about to ask him for a favor. "What do you want, Princess?"

"Go spy on what's going on in my Mom's office for me," she implored him, pleading with her golden eyes.

"Oh, my sweet girl," he murmured, kissing her on the forehead. "There's no way in hell I'm going into that office. I'm still recovering from the broken rib your mother gave me while you were gone for watching her take a shower. We live in the same house for god's sake and we've been sleeping together. I thought it would be okay and I was…"

"Oh, Kami, Daaaad!" she whined, plugging her ears so she would not have to hear anymore.

"Excuse us, sir," Shizune said politely, pushing Reiki down the hallway. "Your father is king of the overshare."

"Don't I know it," she muttered, encountering something solid and unmoving but she did not remember a wall being in the middle of the hallway. She turned to see Kakashi smiling at her; she knew he was smiling by the way his skin crinkled at the corners of his eyes. "You could have moved you know."

"I could have but it would not have been near as much fun," he commented, propping against the wall and refusing to move out of her way.

Reiki looked over to see Shizune locked into a conversation with Iruka and blushing like a six year old girl with her first crush at school. She shook her head, rolling her eyes as she turned her attention to the man in front of her.

"So, now that I have your attention – " he said, moving his masked face closer to hers.

"Not by choice you don't," she muttered, pushing him away with her hand over his face. She knew he was going to ask her about training because she had been terribly lax about it lately even before their long vacation. She quickly informed him of what happened on their so called honeymoon; that was crashed by a gorgeous blonde male bombshell and Pinocchio.

"Wow! Seriously?" he inquired, glancing over at the other two. "Who do you think will get up the nerve to ask the other out first?"

"Neither. We'll most like have to give them a little push. Watch this," she murmured conspiratorially, elbowing him in the ribs. "Hey! You wanna go to Ichiraku's for ramen?"

"Sure. When?" Iruka answered happily, sneaking a glance at Shizune.

"Now. You two go ahead and we'll meet you there," she lied having no intention whatsoever of going. She had just sent them on their first date unbeknownst to them.

"Okay. See you two soon," Shizune said, grabbing his hand and leading him down the hall.

"Oh, matchmaker," Kakashi laughed once they were out of sight. "That was pretty smooth. Now about your training – "

"I'm pregnant!" she blurted, watching his one visible eye widen in surprise.

"Again?"

"Dammit! Why does everyone have that reaction?"

"So do you want to go out with me?" he inquired in attempt to avoid a hormone induced tizzy from the pregnant woman.

"NO YOU MORON!" she bellowed, chasing him down the hall. She slid to a halt when he disappeared and screamed when he materialized behind her and threw his arms around her. He had yet to teach her that technique of moving through the ground in an earth release technique to basically transport himself at high speed from one place to another.

"Show up to practice and I'll teach how to do that. You've got to stop getting pregnant first though, mama," he teased her, rubbing her belly before he disappeared again.

"Honestly, I've never felt so violated in my life," she muttered to herself.

Kakashi had serious problems with the boundaries of personal space. There was also that annoying addiction of his to her father's erotic novels. How many resident perverts can one village handle?

As if on cue, another one walked by when Ebisu moved past her on his way to her mother's office. Reiki snorted to cover her giggle because she remembered her less than pleasant introduction to him when she first arrived in the village. He was the flying human projectile who had narrowly missed knocking her down as she ran out of the bathhouse to check on the commotion her father and Naruto were stirring up. A content smile curled her lips as she thought of her blonde husband. She never would have guessed the irritating kid yelling at her father that day would become so important to her.

~\0/~

* * *

"Who could that be?" Naruto grumbled when there was a knock on the door.

"It's Shika. He's come to talk to you about something important," Reiki informed him from behind her book as he strode to the door. She had forgotten to tell him about Shikamaru's impending visit and the reason why. Uncurling from her chair, she attempted to retreat to the bedroom to avoid the uncomfortable conversation.

"No way," her husband muttered, grabbing her around the waist as she tried to move past him. "Whatever is going on you know something about it so you're staying."

"Fine," she grumbled as he held her close while he opened the door to reveal his best friend looking exhausted and worried. "Would you like a drink?"

"Yeah. Got something alcoholic?" Shikamaru asked, stepping into the house.

"Sure do. Honey?" she inquired, pecking her husband on the cheek when he released her.

"No. I'm fine. He apparently needs it worse than me," he murmured, watching the weary man fall onto the couch in a pathetic heap of humanity.

Reiki fled to the kitchen and took her time getting that drink. She was waiting for the bomb to be dropped before she returned to them. Once the initial shock was over, she would reappear.

"WHAT?!" Naruto shrieked managing to sound like a fourteen year old again. "YOU IDIOT!"

'Okay now he is just being rude,' she thought to herself, picking up the cup and tokkuri of sake. Taking it to the living room, she set it on the table in front of the man who was enduring the glare of her husband's piercing azure blue eyes.

"Naruto, are you really in a place to be critical? Think about us," she reminded him gently.

"Yeah, but we were getting married anyway," he protested, his face growing red. "Besides, there's so many other problems for them. The distance, the families… the fact that each of their villages needs them. How can they be together?"

"The distance and family problems can be solved. The last thing, however, will be a little trickier to deal with," Reiki murmured, watching their friend carefully as he silently downed the sake a little too quickly. "What if I went back to Sunagakure to talk to her brothers? I doubt they know yet and she has no one to be with her."

"But you're pregnant, and I refuse to let you travel by yourself. I can't leave right now because Konohamaru's training is at a critical point. He has to be ready for the next chūnin exams that are coming up," Naruto explained although she was already aware of this.

"Send someone else with me. I'm pregnant, not disabled you know," she growled, glaring at him. "Don't teach him anymore of those dirty techniques either. I know you're one of the Pervy Sage's greatest triumphs but do you really need to pass it on?"

Shikamaru laughed which took them both by surprise. He continued to laugh despite the close scrutiny he was under from his concerned friends.

"Someone's feeling their sake," Naruto mumbled with a grin.

"I never thought I'd see the day when you would be so serious, Naruto," Shikamaru said, his cheeks turning pink from the alcohol.

"Things change," the blonde returned.

"Yes, they do," he responded, growing very somber. "I love Temari and I want to be with her. I just don't know how to make it happen."

"Naruto…" Reiki stared at him with big, sad golden eyes. She could not bear the thought of two people who cared so much about each other, especially since there was a baby involved, not being together.

"It wouldn't matter if I said no would it?" he countered, returning his wife's intense gaze.

Reiki shook her head without saying a word. She would pack her bag to return to Sunagakure in the morning. Her husband could chose whoever he wanted to escort her there.


	19. Chapter 19

Author's note: There will be several quick changes between scenes that are occurring simultaneously. I indicated each switch with a small break between to hopefully cut down on confusion.

* * *

Naruto stood on top of the Hokage's office building watching his wife and Kakashi walk out of the gate together. He had a bad feeling. Not about his former sensei and his wife taking the long trip together but...something. There was this awful, gnawing feeling in his guts that there was something terrible coming closer; a sense of dread like that before a horrific thunderstorm. Somehow he had the feeling allowing his wife to leave the village was the best thing he could have done for her safety. However, he did not know what was going in the same direction as her.

~'.'~

Gaara hopped from the roof of the house where he had been watching the entrance gates to the village. Landing softly on the ground, he walked at a measured but purposeful pace to meet her at the gate with her escort. He had the feeling he would have an unusual guest but he was not expecting this. Why was she here and why did she come without her husband? Was it possible he had the same sense of urgency that something was about to happen so he stayed behind to protect Konoha?

"Gaara," Reiki breathed upon seeing the stoic redhead. She raced forward not worrying about being stopped by the guards since they knew who she was.

"I didn't expect to see you again so soon," he said, almost being bowled over by the big breasted woman who grabbed him for a nearly back breaking hug. "Miss me much?"

"Oh, you're like the brother I never had!" she squealed, releasing him when he began gasping for air.

"Brother or teddy bear?" he questioned her, twisting his back to get everything back into its proper place after the overzealous hug.

"Why haven't you ever hugged me like that?" Kakashi asked rather petulantly, receiving a punch in the arm instead. He quickly righted himself before he hit the ground after she almost knocked him off his feet. He forgot sometimes just how strong she was.

"Because you're like the brother I never wanted," she muttered, justifiably aggravated with him for having to battle his dirty jokes and thinly veiled perverted comments the whole trip.

"Reiki!" Temari shrieked, running and grabbing the woman who was not only her friend but her partner in secrets.

"I need to talk to you," she whispered in the woman's ear while she was giving her a bone crushing hug. Apparently neither of them knew their own strength.

"I bet. Whoa!" she yelled when she was immediately being dragged away by the arm. Turning to look back at the men, she yelled, "Um, I'll see you later! I hope..."

Kakashi did not seem to hear her since he was deep in a conversation with the Kazekage. What was going on that no one was telling her about? She knew it had something to do with the two individuals who showed up here on their last visit but so far no one would tell her what. Her attention was redirected as her arm was almost dislocated from the socket by her friend while she was being pulled to their house.

"What did he say?" Temari asked apprehensively when they were safely ensconced in her bedroom.

Reiki dropped her pack on the floor and dug around for the scroll Shikamaru had sent with her. She handed it to Temari. It was like giving a steak to a starving dog. She snatched back her hand and counted fingers to make sure they were all still there. Holding her breath, she watched for a reaction on her friend's face. She smiled when a grin graced the other woman's lips. It was good news. She never did hear how the conversation between him and Naruto had ended that night and did not bother to ask since she had been entrusted with the duty of delivering a response to Temari. Being a woman, she knew she would hear all about it soon enough from the recipient.

"What do we do? How are we supposed to be together?" Temari queried, her eyes filling with worry and sadness.

"Have you even told your brothers your pregnant?" Reiki asked pointedly. That little bit of information should be made known to them first.

"No. I haven't," she answered, dropping her gaze to the ground. "They'll kill me."

"No, they won't. They won't understand and they'll definitely be angry, but they won't kill you." She hugged her friend, feeling her body shaking in her arms. Surely she could not be that terrified of her own brothers.

~'.'~

Naruto rose from the crouching position he had been holding for hours on top of the Hokage's quarter's to get a better look at the whole village. He was staying close to Tsunade and Jiraiya who were taking care of Nariko. That uneasy feeling would not leave him. His narrowed eyes scanned the gates, spotting the approaching men. He jumped from the roof as the two figures clad in black cloaks decorated with red clouds and wearing wide brimmed, straw traveling hats to obscure their faces entered the gates to be stopped by Kotetsu and Izumo. As he ran to the gates, he knew the storm he had been waiting for had arrived.

~'.'~

It was all done but the crying which Temari was doing profusely at this time for all three of them. The pregnancy revelation had been made, and they had taken it surprisingly well only because they had to. It was lucky for the women but unlucky for the irate brothers that both of the women were pregnant therefore the men were all pissed off with no one to kill. Not yet anyway, however, the likely candidates were on the way.

Reiki rested her chin on the rough stucco windowsill while staring out across the village. She fought back the nausea that threatened to overwhelm her and send her racing to the bathroom to throw up. Attributing the feeling to fighting to control her emotions in the present volatile situation, she pressed her hand against her belly. It was much, much too soon to be feeling any symptoms of her pregnancy. She knew there was going to be something very different about this pregnancy. The sound of an alarm filled her ears as torches began to burst into life like stars bound to ground all over the village.

"What's going on?" Kankurō asked her, limping toward her on his crutches.

"I don't know. It looks bad," she murmured, watching the many lights merging into a straight line and moving toward to the gates.

An explosion sounded, drowning out the drumbeats of the alarm and the screaming of frightened villagers began. The door to the room opened violently, further startling the occupants. Thankfully it was a friend in the form of Kakashi and not the one of the foes who was apparently invading the village.

"Get them out of here!" Gaara ordered the silver haired ninja, forgetting his anger toward his pregnant sister as the protection instinct overcame it. "Kankurō stay here with grandmother. I'm going out to see what's going on."

"Gaara, wait!" Reiki yelled, fighting against Kakashi as he held her around the waist. "Let me go, please! I need to go with him."

"No way. You're husband would kill me if I let something happen to you," he remarked, struggling to hold on to the woman. "Damn you're strong and stubborn."

Reiki stopped wiggling to loose herself from his grip. Using a trick her nine month old uses to escape her hold, she relaxed her entire body, going completely limp in Kakashi's arms. From experience she knew it was virtually impossible to hang on to dead weight. Her body easily slid from his grasp and she took off after the redhead.

"Dammit, Reiki!" Kakashi bellowed after her.

Reiki chased after Gaara who had a big lead on her and was also riding a wave of sand to get to his chosen destination even faster. She did not expect to crash into his still form when he stood transfixed in front of the blonde bomber and the puppet man they had faced before.

"What are you doing here? Go back," he commanded her.

"I'm not one of your subjects that you can order around. I'm your friend and I won't leave you," she told him adamantly, placing her fists on her hips like a pigheaded child.

"You can be as irritatingly stupid and stubborn as your husband, do you know that?" he told her before stepping in front of her to shield her from the invaders.

"Well, well, well," the beautiful blonde said to draw their attention to him, "if it is not the jinchūriki of Shikaku and his little girlfriend. Not little really with those huge - "

"Uh, gross," she interrupted to object in disgust as he eyed her lustily with his one visible blue eye. She did not even bother to correct him on the girlfriend statement. Moron.

"Stop it, Deidara," the villainous redhead reprimanded his companion, stepping forward. "She's very special in her own right. There's something inside of her that I want."

"Danna, ewww that's disgusting, un," he grunted in return.

"Not like that you idiot," he chided the disturbingly airheaded blonde. "She's pregnant by a jinchūriki. The nine tails."

"Ohhhhh!" he rejoined.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered impatiently, rolling her eyes. She walked around Gaara to send out a blast of chakra that knocked both men off their feet. Dodging the cable from the puppet master, she glared at him with a smile on her face when the scorpion like poison tip lodged in a tree. She was immediately surrounded by a wall of sand before the splinters of the tree could touch her when the one called Deidara detonated it to free his friend.

"You can be far too stubborn for your own good, you know that?" Gaara growled at her in his deep monotone voice.

"Yeah, so I've been told on more than one occasion," she snarled back, preparing to discharge another burst of chakra when he dropped the shield. Once again the other two men were knocked on their asses and they both yelled in frustration.

"This bitch is really pissing me off," Deidara grumbled, leaping to his feet.

Reiki jumped back, tripping and falling on her behind this time while trying to avoid the metallic cable. Scrambling to her feet, she watched helplessly as the blonde made a huge clay bird appear. She had seen this before and knew they were getting serious about completing what they came here to do. Forcing back the bile that attempted to rise with the oil that filled her mouth, she readied herself to spit fireballs at the annoying duo. Before she could attack, the bird took off distracting her long enough for the metal tether to snake around her ankle and jerk her off her feet. Landing on her back with a painful thud, she accidentally swallowed the oil she was holding in her mouth.

"Gaara, no!" she screamed when he took off after the bird on a wave of sand.

Reiki screamed when she felt a pair of hands reach under her arms to pull her upwards. She shrieked again when she was lifted into a bridal carry. The horror that filled her instantly dissipated when she turned to look into a familiar masked face and single dark gray eye while the other was shielded with his forehead protector.

"Let's go home, Mama," he announced, not giving her time to fuss at him for using her new nickname which she dearly hated.

"But what about -"

~'.'~

Naruto sat up tenderly touching his pain filled side. He knew at least two of his ribs were broken, possibly more. He wished his wife was here to heal him but he was happy she was safe and far away. Coughing from the dust he had accidentally sucked into his lungs, he forced himself up from the ground while holding his aching side. He was once again confronted by Itachi Uchiha and his blue, fish-faced, freaky friend called Kisame. Immediately he found himself surrounded by water on the dry land and unable to breathe.

Itachi felt the ground shaking beneath their feet but did not recall ever experiencing an earthquake in Konoha before...except for one. "Kisame! Let him go and be ready!" he warned, jumping back as the ground burst open and the new enemy arrived.

"What the hell is this?" Kisame wondered aloud when the masked ninja and two women burst out of the ground. He ignored the small tidal wave of water that flowed past him back into the lake when he released the water dome where he had been holding the stubborn blonde who refused to die. A smirk of sadistic glee lifted his lips from the arrival of fresh prey.

Kakashi had used a genjutsu technique on the women to make them think they were enjoying a lovely afternoon of napping in the warm sun to keep them immobile while he used the underground express way to travel and return quickly to the village of Konohagakure. He never imagined he would be escaping one battle to arrive in the middle of another. Dropping the unconscious women, he prepared to fight the two men standing in front of him: the shark on two legs and...Itachi Uchiha? What the hell was going on here?

"Reiki?" Naruto moaned, crawling over to his unconscious wife as he continued to hack up the water from his lungs. Once he knew she was all right, he quickly checked her blonde companion, Gaara's sister. Why did Kakashi bring them back here?

"Shikamaru," Temari whined, her eyes fluttering open.

"He will be here soon," he assured her, hoping he was telling her the truth. He glanced over at Reiki when he heard her gag to see her vomit what looked like oil and blood. Pressing his lips together, he resisted the temptation to gripe at her for fighting. It would not do any good anyway.

Reiki regurgitated more of the oil she had accidentally swallowed when Sasori pulled her down before getting to her feet and swaying like a drunk. Glimpsing her surroundings, she realized Kakashi had brought them back to Konoha.

"Damn that man," she mumbled to herself before spotting her husband to her left. Throwing her arms around him, she ignored the grunt of pain he emitted that was caused by his broken ribs.

"Sweetheart, could you..." He raised his shirt to show her his bruised side that had turned a sickening shade of purple.

"Oh, Naruto," she murmured, gently running her fingertips over his body to check the extent of his injuries. Finding the broken ribs and realizing they had punctured his spleen and liver, she immediately began healing him.

"When you're done, get out of here. Go to your mom and dad," he told her, kissing her before she could open her mouth to argue. "Please, just go."

Before either of them could move, they were enveloped in water by the shark man. 'Not again. This guy is really starting to piss me off,' Naruto thought to himself. He grabbed his wife, holding her close to him as the man faced shark swam around them. Taking her hands in his, he began to emit a slow steady stream of chakra to warm them hoping she would her understand what he was trying to convey to her. If they heated the water, Kisame would either let them go or they would all be part of a massive serving of shark fin soup. He smiled when she nodded at him and immediately started producing energy to heat what would be their watery grave if they did not get out soon.

While the couple was busy trying to boil water, Kakashi was busy being his copy ninja best by mirroring every technique that the former child prodigy Itachi Uchiha flung at him. If he could not beat him, he would certainly match him jutsu for jutsu to keep him at bay. He carefully watched the man attempting to anticipate his next move. It appeared he was about to use the great fireball technique that had been created by and favored by the Uchiha clan. Glancing behind him at the two trapped in the water dome, he decided to use this to all of their advantage. Moving to position himself in front of the humungous water death trap holding Naruto and Reiki, he impatiently waited for the release. When the huge flaming ball appeared from Itachi's mouth and rushed toward him at high speed, he spun out of the way to allow the great fireball to crash into the water dome to instantly vaporize it.

"Dammit," Itachi growled, watching his comrade and the other two hit the ground while steam surrounded them in a big white cloud before dissipating. "Kisame! Let's go!"

The other three were too distracted by making sure each other was okay to worry about pursuing the fleeing Akatsuki members. Naruto and Reiki lay on the ground breathing in loudly and furiously to refill their air starved lungs.

"Why did you come back here?" Naruto asked Kakashi.

"Deidara and Sasori were in Sunagakure. The most likely captured Gaara," he panted in response, resting on his hands and knees.

"How could you let that happen?!" the livid blonde shrieked, his whiskered cheeks turning red.

"It was a decision between him or you wife. How would you like me to have chosen?"

Naruto glanced at his wife who was lying on her back staring at the sky with one hand resting on her belly. Although Gaara was his best friend and meant a lot to him, she was everything to him. He would not have asked Kakashi to have done it any differently.


	20. Chapter 20

"You told on me to my parents!" Reiki raged at Naruto.

The usually overreactive blonde was shockingly calm and quiet. He refused to meet his wife's furious gaze which made her even more agitated. Yes, he had told on her! He had implored her parents for their help with his ridiculously stubborn and reckless wife who had become a danger to their unborn child and herself. At his wit's end, he did not know any other way to keep her and the child safe other than enacting an intervention with the help of her parents. He had brought her to their home under the guise of having a pleasant family dinner which they did in fact have. He had strategically left out the part about the ensuing confrontation and indigestion for all of them that would come afterward. As she continued to freak out, he reached the end of his patience. Standing up to his full height which enabled him to tower over her now, he moved past her parents to stand in front of the grown woman throwing a fit like a two year old child.

"What do you want, you traitor?!" Reiki yelled, grunting loudly when he pushed her down into the chair behind her. She attempted to stand up but was held firmly in the chair with by his hand on her shoulder. "Get your damn hand off of me!"

"Sit down and shut up!" he yelled in her face.

Reiki would swear a burst of wind from his vehement exclamation blew her hair back from her face. She reluctantly popped open one eye, meeting the furious gaze of azure blue eyes that hovered in front of her face. Rolling her lips inward, she clamped her mouth shut to hold in the string of curse words that begged to be released. He was quite serious and very intent on doing what he had come here to do. Apparently he had grown tired of her antics and was ready to put a stop to them. She knew she had been pushing her luck and the boundaries of common sense with her actions. Somehow she could not stop herself from doing dangerous things to protect the village that had become her home. She loved it because her husband loved it, and she was willing to risk her life to protect it even if it contained a bunch of pretentious, jealous, and ungrateful morons who still did not appreciate the blonde who would one day become their leader. To her dismay and his, she had forgotten she was no longer risking her life but that of their unborn child's as well. And her daughter needed her. A loud screech erupted nearby as if on cue to remind her of that fact. The child was definitely like her father; she was not afraid to make her presence known to everyone around her. Before she could reach for Nariko, she watched as the baby's father scooped her up into his strong arms.

"Nariko needs you. She will be a year old soon. You're also carrying our next child. You have to stop before something happens to you," he said calmly, smiling at his happily babbling baby girl in his arms. "They need you. None of us could stand it if something happened to you."

Reiki swallowed hard as she watched him nuzzle the baby's nose with his. She smiled shakily and mirthlessly as Nariko giggled and patted her father's whisker marked cheeks.

"Daddy!" she squealed excitedly.

"What about you?" she shot back, standing up from the chair. "How do you think I could live without you? I can't. I'd rather put my life in danger with you than to watch you go out day in and day out and wonder if you're coming back."

Emotion choked her before she could remind him of the three years he was gone for his training which nearly caused her to die of a broken heart. At least then she knew he was in good hands because her father was there with him. Now, he was going out and risking his life to save his friends and whoever else needed his help. How could he expect her to stay at home while he did that day after day? She had always been his partner, his back up, his helper. How could she adjust to being his wife and nothing more?

"Mama, mama, mama," Nariko chanted, reaching for her with chubby baby hands while her big blue eyes were fixed intently on her mother's face.

Taking her daughter into her arms, it was as if she realized for the first time she was much more than a wife. She was a mother. Glancing at her own mother, she saw her wiping tears off of her cheeks. She had a whole new appreciation for her mother. She had wasted so many years being angry with her mother for things she did not understand until this moment. It had not been an easy decision for Tsunade to let her go, to send her with her father and be apart from her for years on end. However, it had been important for her survival. As she looked at her daughter, she knew her mother had thought much further ahead as to what lay in her future as well and what she would need to protect. Meeting her husband's eyes, she had to admit to herself the best way she could help him would be to stay home; out of his way and out of danger so he could take care of all of them like he needed to.

"All right," she sighed, kissing her daughter's cheek. "I understand. I'll stay home."

Naruto bit his lower lip to keep from telling her that was not what he wanted when in fact it really was liked always having her beside him. However, it was time for her to be a wife and mother. Besides, someone needed to stay behind to help protect the village when he and the others were gone on missions. She and Temari would be excellent additions to the Allied Mother's Force.

~...~

* * *

"I'm leaving tomorrow to find, Gaara," Naruto informed his wife as they lay in bed later that night. Neither one of them could sleep so where was the harm in starting a conversation?

"I know," Reiki sighed, feeling the sting of tears. She squeezed her eyes shut to hold them back. Her hand lay on top of his that made slow, gentle circles over her still flat belly."

"I'll be back," he assured her, pulling her over onto her back. He moved closer to her until he was lying on top of her.

"I know," she repeated, allowing the warmth of his bare chest to soak into her skin as he hovered over her. The heat of his body created another type of heat within her, making her feel tingly with desire all over.

"Reiki, I - " He started talking only to be cut off by her fingers being pressed against his lips.

"Don't say anything. No explanations, no apologies...nothing. Just tell me I'll see you later and say good bye in our favorite way," she implored him, pressing her lips against his. Her hands pressed against his smooth, brawny chest feeling his muscles flex beneath her fingertips as he moved to tangle his fingers into her long white blond hair.

"I'll always come back to you. I made that promise in the beginning and intend to keep it," he told her, giving her a few quick pecks on the lips between words. "I'll see you later."

"Make sure that you do," she said, pulling his lips back to hers. Her arms wrapped around his body, embracing him briefly before her hands slid down his back tracing every muscled contour from his shoulders down his fabulous behind. Her fingers dug into naked ass, pulling his swollen manhood tighter against her yearning body between her legs.

"Oh, Kami," he murmured, sliding into her slowly while trailing kisses down her neck.

Reiki closed her eyes while concentrating on every stroke, every magnificent pleasurable sensation he sent careening through her body. She buried her hands in his thick hair that was the color the sunshine and whispered his name in a moan from the ecstasy rolling over her nerve endings like waves. The unshed tears refused to be held back any longer and leaked from the corners of her eyes before trickling into her hair. She was thinking she had been successful in keeping them hidden from him until he immediately stopped moving and began sprinkling her cheeks and forehead with kisses.

"What? Why did you stop?" she gasped, panting slightly as he stared into her eyes.

"Don't cry," he said, wiping away the tears that followed.

"I'm not, I - " she lied unsucessfully to be cut off by a sob. Looking into his eyes, she moved her hips to prompt him to move again to serve as a distraction for both of them.

"Don't close your eyes," he implored her, placing his hand against her jaw her to hold her head still so he could continue gazing deeply into her eyes.

Reiki whimpered and allowed her eyes to flutter shut briefly before reopening them to stare at him. Although she found it difficult to keep her eyes open, she wanted to and she did. It was in these moments they truly became one; getting lost each other completely as their bodies melted together and no one existed for them but the other person. It was also when their love became so poignant it literally hurt and made her heart physically ache. The tears poured from her eyes and her chest was filled with that deepseated familiar pain but she would not allow herself to look away. Her eyes moved briefly to his full pink lips as they parted to breathe her name before he was totally lost in the throes of passion from his climax. She held onto him, allowing her eyes to close as her body shook and writhed from the immense pleasure he gave her.

"I always enjoy giving you something to remember me by," he laughed lightly, kissing the tip of her nose.

"It also makes me look forward to when you come back and can do it all over again," she giggled in return.

"Just think of me everyday when I'm gone. I know I'll think of you a hundred times a day."

"I won't be able to stop thinking about you."

"I know. That's the way I like it."

She was his and he would make sure to always keep it that way.

~...~

* * *

Reiki glared at Konohamaru as he sat across from her in the living room. As if it weren't humiliating enough that Naruto felt she should have a babysitter, he had picked _him_ of all people for the task. She would rather have Psycho Sakura as a caretaker. She knew her husband had done this on purpose because he was the one male in Konoha there was absolutely no chance in this world or the next one that she would be tempted to have sex with him. Her body automatically cringed as the oversexed teen's dark brown eyes drifted over her from head to toe for the millionth time. She always felt the need to take a shower after one of his lengthy staring sessions. Her mind was already made up to beat him within an inch of his life if he dared to use one of his already legendary dirty jutsus around her. He had a disturbingly prolific arsenal of triple x rated ninja skills.

"You would be so cute if you weren't such a filthy minded little brat," she growled at him, standing up from her chair.

"You think I'm cute?" he inquired happily, a joyful smile tilting his lips.

"No! I said you _would_ be. But you're not," she stated pointedly, walking to the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Sake?"

"Not on your life, pal. Not only are you too young, if I can't have it, neither can you. Water?"

"Okay," he pouted, following her into the kitchen.

Reiki gasped when she turned to find the young man standing far too close to her. The water poured down her front, successfully soaking her white t-shirt through and turning it transparent. She had not even heard him walk into the kitchen or detected him standing so closely to her.

"Oh, Kami, my prayers have been answered," he murmured, staring down at her breasts that were completely visible through the drenched fabric.

"I had no idea you wanted to die today," she snarled, twisting his scarf around her hands and pulling tightly.

Konohamaru was unable to wipe the smile from his face despite the air being systematically cut off from his lungs as she gradually tightened his trademark scarf he always wore around his neck. Reaching up to grab her breasts before he lost consciousness, he wanted to at least cop a feel before she killed him. His smile stretched into a satisfied, lecherous grin as his fingers grasped her firm, ginormous breasts and squeezed hard enough to make her squeal. He would die a happy man now.


	21. Chapter 21

Naruto, Shikamaru, Chōji , and Shino lay on their bellies on the rough cliff observing the activities in the open valley below. There was a big campsite arranged in a circular array with several trees in the middle. Tied to the trees were Gaara and several other jinchūrikis from other villages. They had planned on a rescue mission for one not anticipating the elusive Akatsuki had already collected almost all of the jinchūrikis. There were seven present with only two missing. One lay on the cliff with his mind quickly formulating a plan to rescue his friend and the others. Where was the other? It did not matter at this time. All that mattered was that they had to save the captives and not get killed doing so.

Rolling onto his back, Naruto closed his eyes against the blazing sun to think.

"Now isn't the time for a nap, you idiot," Shikamaru hissed, wanting to take one himself.

"I'm not sleeping, moron, I'm thinking," he muttered back. "Besides, being a lazy ass is your department."

"Hmph," he snorted, a lopsided smile tilting his lips. His best friend knew him too well.

"Think fast, Naruto," Chōji muttered, poking him in the shoulder. "They're doing something."

Naruto flopped back over to his belly to see what was going on. He gritted his teeth as he watched Deidara and Kisame untie Gaara who fell forward lifelessly to the ground before they dragged him unsympathetically into the clearing where the other Akatsuki members stood. His anger began to rise steadily when the one with spiky orange hair and piercings covering his face and ears stepped forward, kicking over the obviously unconscious man. When the man knelt down to press his hands against the helpless Gaara's chest, he knew this guy was about to kill his friend so he had to act fast. Unleashing a tremendous amount of chakra without meaning to, he stunned his companions and unwittingly incapacitated them momentarily. Immediately taking on his three tailed form because there was no time to waste on gradually increasing his power, he leaped from the cliff to land smack in the middle of the group of Akatsuki. Coming face to face with the one called Pain, he smiled sinisterly to show his fangs while his red eyes gleamed from the flames surrounding him.

"The nine tails. How nice of you to come," Pain murmured calmly, managing a tight, insincere smile. "You saved us the trouble of having to find you."

"Back off," Naruto warned as the line of black cloak with red cloud shrouded men stepped toward him. Releasing a burst of chakra that shook the ground and swept over them in a heated, palpable wave of power, he gave them further reason to pause and watched as they backed away reluctantly. He suddenly wished he had not knocked out his cohorts; he could use their help releasing the others. Until then he would simply have to distract the men who were now surrounding him. He could do that; he had always managed to be a major distraction but most often without intending to do so.

Forming a Rasengan, Naruto pushed it forward right into the abdomen of the man standing in front of him. He watched with a satisfied grin as the man was blown backwards and into the side of the mountain over thirty feet away. Glancing around him, he was able to mutter a stunned 'uh-oh' just before the others converged on him and trapped him beneath a big dog pile of bodies.

Or so they thought. Confusion ensued and angry voices were raised.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know."

"Don't you have him?"

"No! I thought you had him!"

"Fucking idiots!"

The hopelessly befuddled men slowly began to unhinge themselves from each other, astounded by the fact they had somehow lost the three tailed manifestation. Pain was peeling himself from the rocky face of the mountain and slightly dazed which was good for them because he probably would have killed them all for being so stupid.

"Where is he?" bellowed Pain, stomping toward the group who were glancing around in startlement.

Naruto looked down at the mayhem from the cliff with Gaara standing at his side. Without a word he left the exhausted Kazekage with their friends that were slowly getting to their feet while he jumped back down to rejoin the melee and free the remaining captives. Emerging behind the leader, he tapped him on the shoulder.

"Looking for me?" Naruto inquired innocently giving him an amused grin and receiving a not so amused scowl.

"Dammit," the irritated orange top hissed just before he was given a good, old-fashioned punch in the face.

Naruto smiled ecstatically as the others rushed forward in another comical attempt to grab him. He allowed them to seize his arms and legs before sending out a pulse of chakra that was like a bomb going off in each individual's hand that gripped him. Waiting for the second wave of would be attackers, his attention was drawn to the tall, extremely muscular dark-skinned man with shockingly white hair in braids and a white goatee and moustache who appeared at the edge of the camp. Apparently, his attention was not the only one the new arrival gained as all of the men stopped and stared.

"What's up people?!" the dark man yelled, the sunlight glinting off of his tiny round sunglasses.

"If we had known it would be this easy, we would have just captured one and let the rest show up," Pain murmured with satisfaction upon recognizing Killer B: the jinchūriki of Gyūki, the Eight-Tails.

"Well, it looks like everyone is here!" Killer B thundered across the clearing. Crossing his arms over his chest while making a sign of the bull with his hands, he surrounded himself with an orange glow and eight tails burst out from behind him. He had taken on a form similar to Naruto's. Reaching behind his head to unsheath two swords, he tossed them into the air to catch them and position the hilt comfortably in his hands while eyeing the men in front of him. "We can finally get this party started!"

Naruto grabbed onto the men holding his arms, the zombielike Kakuzu and triple scythe wielding Hidan, to keep them from assuming a defensive stance as the swordsman charged at them. His claws sank into their arms as they struggled to free themselves so they could fight against the oncoming enemy. He watched the massive man skewer the man who appeared to be already dead and nearly decapitate the silver-haired man who looked like a priest. The wet sound of the blade slicing through flesh made him feel sick at his stomach. The gurgling, sucking sound of air escaping Hidan's severed windpipe and bubbling through the blood did him in. Dropping to his knees between the bodies, he lost the contents of his stomach. What the hell was going on? This kind of stuff had never bothered him before.

"Fucking bastard," Hidan bit out in a menacing tone. He was holding his almost completely severed head with one hand while covering his trachea with the thumb of other hand so he could talk. Being immortal did have some serious drawbacks. "Hey! Kakuzu! Wake your ass up stitch me back together! Useless fucking idiot."

"Ewww," Naruto croaked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before getting to his feet. He watched as the other man, also blessed (or as the case had become, cursed) with immortality, sat up on his knees from his face down position on the ground and began to mehodically gather together his intestines and other innards that had spilled onto the ground when Killer B almost successfully cut him in half. How were they supposed to kill these guys?

"Hey, kid! You're not wussing out on me are ya? Join the party and have some fun!" he yelled at Naruto to snap him back to the present and the combatants that were still in one piece that were coming for them.

"I wasn't! I - " The rest of his words were halted by the advance of the all too familiar opponents of Sasori and Deidara. "Fun my ass...I'm sick of this kind of _fun_," the normally cheerful blonde grumbled, raising his hands to prepare for combat. It was time to whip some ass and get this over with. He had a family he needed to return to.

~\..'../~

* * *

Reiki rolled her eyes and allowed her head to loll to the side to rest against Temari's shoulder. The blond woman giggled and pushed her friend off before she began snoring. They were attending their first meeting of the Allied Mother's Force. An hour had already passed and the first speaker had not yet relinquished the podium. The pretty and elegant woman with brown eyes and brown hair had identified herself as Mrs. Yamanaka, Ino's mother. For Ino to be such a brazen loud mouth, her mother was extraordinarily soft-spoken and quite the eloquent speaker.

Unfortunately, between a teething Nariko and a whining Konahamaru, Reiki did not get much sleep last night which left her unable to stay awake to pay attention to the woman's wise words. She regretted not killing the boy instead of just beating him to within an inch of his life. At least he won't be touching her breasts anymore since she had broken all five fingers on one hand and the wrist of the other. She had healed him enough to knit the bones together but not enough to stop the pain; that way he would leave her the hell alone. As much as she wanted to spare her child the teething pain, she knew it was minor in the big scheme of things and allowed her to chew on a cold washcloth while she gently rocked the almost inconsolable child. Like childbirth, sometimes it was necessary to endure the pain.

"Reiki," Temari whispered, poking the snoring platinum blonde when her future mother-in-law who was sitting in front of them turned to give them a caustic look. The fatigued woman did not budge so she poked her harder, zapping her with a bit of chakra.

"I'm awake, dammit!" she shrieked, jumping to her feet. Her face heated and turned a wonderful shade of cherry red as the appalled mothers glowered at her with the practiced scowl they reserved for their unruly children. Giving them an apologetic smile and nod, she dropped down into her chair and wished there was such a thing as an invisibility jutsu. She would have to ask Kakashi about that. Leaning over to whisper in Temari's ear, she hissed, "I hate you right now."

Both women giggled only to be shushed by the women in front of them. Coughing to stifle their laughter, they tried to get serious and listen to the remaining part of the lecture on what it really means to be a mother and a kunoichi. After thirty more minutes passed with no closing being hinted at, they began to talk amongst themselves.

"When do you think they'll come back? It feels like they've been gone so long," Temari murmured staring at her swelling feet. She had been sitting far too long.

Reiki sighed, understanding exactly how she felt. "Soon. They will be back soon and it will be just like they never left. Besides, the reunions are always incredible," she assured her, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. Her only reward was a wan smile and sad eyes.

"Does it ever get any easier?" Temari's big green eyes drilled hopefully into her friend's golden ones.

As much as she wanted to, Reiki could not lie just to make her feel better. "No. No, it doesn't."

~\..'../~

* * *

"Come on, kid, suck it up," Killer B admonished Naruto as he expelled the contents of his stomach for the third time.

They had not defeated the Akatsuki completely, leaving them with their lives but only by a slim margin. The keepers of the tailed beasts had been freed to return to their prospective villages but none of them were sure how long that freedom would last. Gaara was incredibly weak and had to be carried so he was returning with them to Konoha. If only Reiki had been here, she could have healed the ailing man or done whatever it took to help him. But she wasn't.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Shikamaru grumbled impatiently at Naruto. He wanted to be back in Konoha; he was afraid to leave Temari and his mother alone too long. Although his father was home, he knew the man was as chronically lazy and unmotivated as him and would do nothing to stop a fight that might occur between the women. As a matter of fact, he was sure his father would watch the altercation with remarkable indifference and perhaps be slightly entertained.

"If I knew, I'd do something to stop it," the slightly green colored Naruto mumbled, quickly turning away as another wave of nausea caused his stomach to spasm but there was nothing to throw up.

"How are you feeling?" Tsunade asked her daughter as she felt over her belly.

"I'm fine. No problems whatsoever. I'm not tired anymore since Nariko's teeth came through and she's sleeping through the night," she said proudly, enticing her daughter to smile as she sat on her grandfather's lap. The two front teeth shone like tiny white pearls from the child's soft pink gums.

"No morning sickness?" her mother queried, pressing her hand firmly onto Reiki's abdomen to estimate the baby's size.

"No, none," she answered, wincing as her mother pressed her hand into her belly until she thought the good doctor would reach in and grab the baby.

"You're about four weeks. Does that sound right?"

"Yes."

"Have you heard from Naruto?" She pulled her daughter to a sitting position to help her off the table.

"No. I haven't," she murmured, offering her cheery daughter a pitiful smile.

As if Kami had planned it, the door to the room they were in was flung open to reveal Shikamaru dragging in a pale and weak Naruto who appeared almost dead with Chōji and Shino bringing in Gaara who did not look much better.

"What happened?" Tsunade demanded, pointing to the table where Reiki had been lying moments before.

"He won't stop puking his guts up. He can't even keep water down," Shikamaru informed the woman as he watched Reiki move around them to go to Gaara.

Reiki was concerned about her husband but she knew he was in good hands. Besides, she could tell that Gaara's very life force was faint and his chakra reserves were dangerously low. Kneeling in front of the chair they had sat him in, she pressed her hands to his cheeks to hold up his head. His skin was cold beneath her fingers and his heart rate was slow. He was dying.

"What happened? Talk to me. Gaara, open your eyes," she begged, placing one hand over his heart and concentrating her chakra into regulating its rhythm. If it stopped, she might not be able to start it again.

"They...they tried...t-to," he stammered faintly. Every word was taxing causing his breathing to become labored. "They tried to extract Shukaku from me."

"Oh, Kami, no," Reiki gasped, pressing her forehead to his cold clammy one. She was trying to send as much chakra as she could into his body without weakening her own. Immediately she felt a warmth growing from deep inside of her belly as if a fire had been lit within her. The source of the heat grew before a surge went through her body, taking her breath away. She struggled to breath as the temperature within her rose and a prickling sensation like thousands of electrical shocks sparked across her body. It reminded her of when Kuruma's power would transfer from Naruto to her during intense emotional moments.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked groggily when he heard the cry of pain come from Reiki. Forcing himself up on his elbows to look around Shikamaru, he saw his wife kneeling in front of Gaara, attempting to heal him. To his dismay, he saw the familiar orange flames of the nine tail's manifestation of powerful chakra burst from random areas over her body until she was fully engulfed in the nonburning flames. "It can't be. Where is it coming from? How - "

"The baby," Tsunade answered as she watched as her son-in-law's limitless power threatened to overtake her daughter. It could only be coming from the child inside of her, his child. "Nariko isn't the one. She won't be the next holder of the beast."

"There won't be a next jinchūriki if Reiki dies," Naruto muttered, getting off the table to go to her. How could his parents be so wrong about the identity of the next vessel for Kuruma? He had no time to worry about that now. Kneeling behind her, he pressed his body against hers while laying his arms along hers and covering her hands with his. The only thing he knew to do was to help her channel the chakra not only to save her but to heal Gaara.

"Naruto, help me," she implored him, gritting her teeth against the searing agony torturing her body. She had never been subjected to such a lengthy and extended burst of Kuruma's energy before. The wisdom behind the sealing he had undergone as a child, no matter how shoddy and slapdash it had been, presently made sense to her. She did not understand how he withstood the power within him.

"Just trust me. I won't let anything happen to you," he assured her, allowing his lips to brush across her cheek. He could feel her body trembling next to his as if vibrating from the power flowing through her. At this time she had become nothing more than a conductor for the chakra. He was more concerned for her survival than the baby's since it had been the source of the power.

"Jiraiya, what do we do?" Tsunade asked while everyone else was occupied with the spectacle unfolding in front of them.

"I-I d-don't kn-know," he stuttered, switching his fussing grandchild from one hip to the other. "I've never come across anything like this...ever!"

"Me either," she rejoined, attempting to survey the situation in an objective manner. Her baby, her only child, was in serious danger of losing her life and that made it impossible to think logically. Leaning into her husband, she patted Nariko's back to help comfort her.

"What's happening?" Gaara mumbled, opening his eyes to look at the couple in front of him.

"She's saving your life and we're saving hers," Naruto explained. "Take a deep breath, this is going to hurt - a lot."

"What are you about to - " Before Gaara could complete the question he was hit with a surge of pure energy so strong it almost pushed him through the chair. It felt as if he had a sledgehammer slammed into his chest. His friends did not fare much better either.

They were pushed across the floor from the explosion of chakra. Naruto had protectively wrapped his body around Reiki's to keep her from experiencing any further harm. He hit the wall, emitting a loud 'oof' sound while all of the air was pushed out of his lungs. Pulling the air back into his body with a loud inhale so powerful it made his throat hurt, he held her tightly. Looking down at the quivering woman in his arms, he was relieved to see she was conscious and staring up at him questioningly as if she had no clue what had just happened. Not a single person in the room was sure what had just happened, but at least they were all alive.

Due to the recent uproar, Tsunade completely forgot to explain why Naruto was sick. He was experiencing the pregnancy empathetically with Reiki; he was having the morning sickness for her. Somehow this child had established a commiserate bond between them that extended beyond the normal range of sharing thoughts and emotions. If she had taken into account the burst of the nine tails power from the fetus, she would have surmised it was the beast who actually made the connection between them.

* * *

Please don't send me any complaints about Konan not making an appearance with the Akatsuki and about Killer B not rhyming. She will probably appear in a later chapter. As for the Killer B thing, well in all honesty, I did not want to sound ridiculous or pathetic in my sad (and most likely epic fail) attempt to make him say something cool while making it rhyme.


	22. Chapter 22

Jiraiya carefully inspected the seal he had made on his daughter's belly. Retracing every step in making the seal, he tried to comfort himself that not only would she be perfectly safe but the baby would be protected as well. He had to give the crafty old fox one thing; Kurama had brought the legendary survival instinct of the bijū to a new level. Never before had a tailed beast gone as far as to 'help' impregnate a human with part of their very own essence to ensure their survival. He knew they were selfish, conceited creatures by nature, but he had no idea they could be desperate as well. Looking at his daughter, he wondered exactly what she carried inside of her and what he would be like. He was sure the child was a boy; he had picked up on that during the sealing process. Apparently Kurama liked the power he had created within Naruto and wanted another boy child to carry on and increase his power. However, he had gone further by implanting a part of his very being into a human. This baby was as a much a part of the beast as it was his daughter and her husband. A half blood had been created and no one knew what it meant for the world yet.

'What does it mean for my precious daughter?' Jiraiya wondered, tracing her cheek with his thumb. He did not know he had spoken the question out loud until her golden eyes, her mother's eyes, opened up wide with shock to stare at him.

"Daddy," she murmured, taking a deep breath. "What's going to happen? What will my baby be like?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. You'll be fine," he assured her, praying to Kami she really would be all right.

"Daddy..." She shifted on the table in the hospital room where her father had taken her to perform the sealing. Hugging him briefly, she could not stop the tears from coming.

"Yes, baby?" he asked, wiping away her tears with his hand. Despite being a grown woman and another man's wife, she was still his baby and he wanted to protect her - nothing would ever change that. He wanted to be angry at someone, to be able to go beat the hell out of someone for this. Unfortunately, the someone responsible was more than less a _something_ and the person he lived inside of had suddenly become just as much a victim of the creature's selfishness as his daughter. He had one more reason on his long list of reasons to hate Kurama already.

"I'm scared," she whispered, leaning forward into her father's outstretched arms.

"You'll be fine. Just think, as if your son was not destined to be the most feared ninja this world has ever seen, he undoubtably will be the most powerful as well," he said, finding little comfort in his own words.

Reiki wanted to scream she did not care about all of that. Somehow she knew her father did not care about those things either if the truth were told. Instead of saying anything, she only hugged him tighter to take comfort in his arms as if she were five years old again and had just scraped her knee. This was so much worse than a simple bloody kneecap. A bandage would not fix this.

"Baby," her father wheezed, patting her on the back as she squeezed the air out of him. "I can't breathe and I think you're rebreaking the ribs that just healed from your mother's last temper tantrum."

"Oh, sorry," she mumbled, releasing her hold on him immediately. Her head whipped to the door when it opened to see her handsome blonde husband standing there.

Jiraiya could not help but notice her face begin to virtually glow as the deep feelings she had for the boy registered and softened her features. He smiled thinking that she was definitely a woman in love. He could also see that Naruto meant everything to her. Her hero had arrived and suddenly he no longer existed in her world. It hurt to know that someone had replaced him being the most important man in her life, but he knew it was only right and natural. Being her father, he was only meant to be the man she loved most temporarily. He would have to thank her mother for allowing him to have the time he had spent with her. Kissing her on the forehead, he prepared to leave the room. Stopping by Naruto, he clapped the man on the back heartily nearly knocking him down.

"Take good care of her. Protect her. Always, above everything else, love her," Jiraiya stated in a low voice could only be heard by his son-in-law.

"I already do those things. I will always do those things. I can't help but lover her. I have from the very first moment I saw her in that towel," he returned, blushing slightly from the memory of their somewhat awkward first meeting.

"Yeah, I know," Jiraiya chuckled, recalling the event himself. He had never seen anything so funny in his life before. He had wondered at first what he had gotten his daughter into at first upon seeing the goofy blonde's reaction to her. Naruto had surprised him, and probably everyone in the village, by the kind of man he had become. Pride bloomed within him because he could not be happier with the chosen mate for his daughter.

"Daddy, I love you," she called before walked out of the door.

"I love you too, Reiki," he rejoined without turning back because he did not want them to see the tears in his eyes. The damn women in his life were the only ones who could make him cry.

Once they were alone, Naruto sat down beside her, tenderly brushing his fingertips over her cheek. He pressed his lips to hers, savoring their familiar softness against his. Pulling her close, he pressed his lips against hers more urgently, sighing when her fingers slid through his messy spiked hair. Her tongue touched his bottom lip and he immediately parted his lips to allow her searching tongue to find his. Tugging slightly on one of her braids, he moaned as she explored his mouth with that fabulous tongue of hers. His body instantly sprang to attention when he thought about some of the wonderful things she did to him with that tongue and mouth. Pushing her away, he panted to regain control of his mind filled with dirty thoughts and his body overcome with desire.

"Can I see it?" he inquired, pulling at her shirt. He was curious to see if the seal looked anything like the one that had been placed on him that no longer existed.

"Sure," she breathed, unable to catch her breathe easily. Leaning back, she pulled up her shirt to show him the intricate tattoo of the seal that now surrounded her belly button. Biting her lip to quell the arousal that grew within her as he traced the seal with his finger, she watched his vivid blue eyes as they moved over every curve of the intricate circular design on her abdomen.

"It's beautiful. Like you," he complimented, his eyes flickering up to hers briefly before he pressed a kiss to the design.

"Naruto," she gasped, laying her hand on his head.

"Hey, you guys?" Temari tentatively called from behind the slightly cracked door.

"Oh, hell woman just go in," Shikamaru grumbled, pushing the door open and walking in. His face reddened when he saw the couple who had been engaging in an apparently intimate moment that he had callously interrupted. Shaking it off and donning his typical expression of 'I don't give a damn - about anything,' he scratched the back of his head self-consciously. "Gaara is awake and asking for the two of you."

"O-okay," Naruto stammered, standing up to help his wife from the examining table. He paused by his friend who seemed to want to say something else.

"Temari and I want you two to come over later. We have a wedding to plan and I have some questions to ask about the whole being a husband and father thing and..." His words faltered and his face flushed a deep crimson red.

It was not within his nature to ask for help. Shikamaru was always the one who had the plan and knew how everything was going to work out. Being a husband and father held too many variables, too many unknowns for him to make any predictions or form some kind of battle plan. After watching Naruto and Reiki, he had learned that love was indeed a battle whether the fight came from circumstances within or without. It was something he was totally unprepared for and that scared him.

"You'll be fine. If I can do this, you surely can," Naruto assured him, squeezing his friend's shoulder briefly before walking out of the room.

Reiki hurried ahead of him, anxious to see how Gaara was doing after nearly dying on them. She burst into the room, feeling honored to received the rare smile from the stoic auburn haired kage. Moving to the bed, she sat down beside him to take his hand in hers. She fought the urge to pull back from him when she felt the icy sting of his uncommonly cold skin. Maybe this was natural for him when he was away from desert home.

"It's okay. I'm okay," he told her. As if sensing her discomfort, he withdrew his hand from hers as Naruto sat down at his other side.

"Did they get him?" Naruto inquired, referring to Shukaku.

"No. He's still here," he answered, staring up at the ceiling. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the pillow.

Reiki could not tell if he was happy or sad about that. Getting up from the bed, she kissed his forehead before moving to the door.

"Where are you going?" her husband asked, rising from the bed to follow but halting when she shook her head.

"I'm going for a walk. I just want...I just need some time alone," she explained, offering him a shaky smile. She thought Gaara might need to talk to Naruto and was just too polite to ask her to leave. And she really did want some time alone.

"All right. See you at home later?"

"Of course. Where else would I be?"

Reiki could not get away from the hospital fast enough. Running as if she were escaping an enemy, she rushed through the village gates ignoring the inquisitive stares of Izumo and Kotetsu in the guard stand.

"Should we go after her? She looked upset," Izumo said, watching the frantic Reiki disappear into the foilage of the surrounding forest.

"And do what?" Kotetsu demanded with a sneer. "Get killed? No thank you. You're right, she did look upset. She probably wants to be alone."

"Isn't that even more of a reason to go after her?" He stared at his companion with worry registering in his eyes.

"No wonder you're still single," he muttered, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. Even if he was so inclined, he would not go after her. He knew the damage that woman could inflict. Amazingly enough, sometimes women did want to be left alone. He had learned that the hard way himself. And that was why he was still single.

Reiki dropped to her knees beside the stream. The soothing sound of the flowing water washed over her nerves, lending its tranquility to her tortured mind. Kicking off her sandals, she sank her feet into the freezing water before laying back on the bank. The sunlight filtered through the thick canopy of leaves, dappling her vision with bursts of bright golden light. Closing her eyes, she released the breath she had unconsciously been holding. Her feet were growing numb from the cold water but she did not care. She only wished the numbness would extend to the rest of her body, particularly her mind that was on a runaway train of thought.

"Reiki," a male voice whispered.

"Kami, please," she muttered under her breath. Was there no escape from the testosterone holders?

"Can I talk to you?" Iruka tentatively asked, appearing through the trees.

Reiki assumed something serious must be on his mind since he was here too. He was the one who had introduced her to the calming effects of this area of the stream. During Naruto's absence with her father, she had been brought here many times by him then came here frequently on her own to cope. She had cried many tears into this stream, sobbing out her heart to the constantly flowing water that took away her pain and held her deepest secrets.

"Of course. Come sit," she urged him, patting the soft grass beside her. She pulled her feet out of the frigid water because they had begun to ache from the cold. Bringing her knees to her chest, she balanced her chin on one knee to study the man sitting beside her.

A small grin tilted her lips as she watched him daintily take off his sandals and roll up his pants to keep them from getting wet before submerging his feet into the stream. She covered her mouth with her hand to hide her ever widening grin at his girly reaction to the cold water when he jumped and squeaked. When she first began spending time with him several years ago, it occurred to her that he might be gay. After watching him and Kakashi play around at times and taunt each other mercilessly, she started to wonder about both of them. However, Kakashi soon made it clear through his choice of literature as well as his thinly veiled double entendres that he definitely liked women.

Iruka had taken longer to figure out. She would catch him sometimes giving her long, thoughtful stares but he would quickly look away before she could judge what he was thinking. Years later she was made aware of the fact that the only reason he did not make a move on her was because Naruto was like a beloved little brother to him. If only Kakashi was thoughtful enough to respect the same boundaries, they would all be better off. However, over time he had proved himself to be nothing more than a harmless flirt with no real intentions to act on his words. At least not to act on them with her. Many females of the village fared far less well from the ninja with the raging libido but from what she had heard never had any complaints. Her brown haired companion had not fully cinched his heterosexuality until he became deeply involved with Shizune.

Reiki could not stop herself from blushing as some of the unsolicited overshares from her 'sister' came to mind. She never would have guessed the unassuming lamb beside her could be such a lion in the bed. Clearing her throat, she readjusted her thoughts so she could pay attention to the situation at hand.

"What's on your mind?" she asked, running her fingers through water to distract herself from her thoughts that were now moving along a much different track. Damn Shizune and her slumber party confessions. Slumber party! Now there was a thought for the upcoming bachelorette party for Temari.

"...marry me," Iruka was saying when she finally refocused her attention to him.

"Wh-what?" she stammered, slamming her hand down into the water and splashing herself.

"I want to ask Shizune to marry me," he repeated, his cheeks forming two bright red spots beneath his eyes.

Wow! That was unexpected.

Damn. Someone had unleashed the love bug with a vengeance on Konoha. By the end of the week, it seemed everyone that was not married had gotten engaged. The two biggest shocks of all were the engagement of Ino to Chōji and Sakura to Rock Lee. The first couple warranted a reaction of what the hell then once the initial shock wore off people found the prospect of their union endlessly amusing and sweet. The second couple garnered a loud "what the fuck!" punctuated by gales of astonished and generally befuddled laughter. Once the laughing stopped, sympathy for the resultant future children would set in. What would those offspring look like? They did not stand a chance from the brows up and personality wise would probably not be much better off. They would be a progeny with caterpillar eyebrows set on a forehead a mile wide who exhibited violent tendencies coupled with visions of grandeur that would be shouted long and loud at fellow villagers. It was going to be great!

The slumber party/bachelorette party grew into a monster occasion encompassing most of the single women of the village. The event that was supposed to take place at Reiki's house but had to be moved to one of the larger meeting rooms of the Hokage's building due to the need for more space.

The husbands and male friends of the grooms began their plotting to crash the female's affair. The lead instigator's became Kakashi and Naruto with an occasional consultation from Jiraiya. No surprise there. Sai became their surveillance and recon man who would gather information on the details of the women's plans.

Reiki wondered what the hell she had gotten herself into as the music and laughter shook the walls of the meeting room where bed rolls, blankets, and pillows littered the floor along with copious amounts of chocolate candy, chips, and other snack foods. Her mother was going to kill her when she saw this mess. She would soon find out who her real friends were when they were the ones who stayed to help her clean up. Leaning against the wall, she allowed herself to relax and smile when she saw how much fun everyone was having.

Even Sakura had let go of the past and attended the party along with her partner in crime, Ino. They were both on the dance floor trying not to appear to be complete spastards with a complete lack of rythm but failing miserably. Who cares? They were all having fun tonight.

Reiki winced when a sensation she could not explain overtook her. It was that distinct, spine tingling feeling of being watched. Glancing around, she saw nothing but joyous party goers. Looking up to the bare beams of the ceiling above them yielded no results either. However, that weird feeling lingered and grew stronger. Her eyes continued to scan above them, searching the shadows for the source of the creeping sensation. A shadow in the corner moved, alerting her to the presence just as she was about to give up her search.

"Sai, you little bastard," she muttered, running along the edge of the room to skirt the crowd of women. No one even noticed her. No one except the man she was after.

"Shit, I'm dead," Sai hissed, making a casual observance as her feet hit the wall and she bounded upward to the beam where he crouched. It was no use to run at this point.

Reiki landed on the beam in front of him, almost coming nose to nose with him.

"Why are you here?" she growled, holding her crouching position that mirrored his. "Why are you spying on us? We're not even doing anything."

"Yes, I know. And all of the paranoid husbands and husbands-to-be want to keep it that way," he explained tonelessly, rising to his feet. He found it slightly disturbing how she mirrored his every move. The only other person who had managed to bother him so much such a deep level was her husband. It was like they knew him as well as he knew himself.

"Hey, Reiki! What are you doing? Who's up there with you?" Temari yelled, drawing attention to her friend.

Reiki gulped as everyone stared up at her. What the hell could she do now? A wicked thought hit her mind, and she seized the wrist of the man beside her using the epic brute strength she had gained inherently from her mother.

"What are you doing? Let me go," he insisted coolly. He could easily get away from her, but not without breaking his or her wrist, neither of which he wanted to do. Besides, he was intrigued with what the unpredictable and never boring woman was about to do.

"Come with me, Sai. You just volunteered to be our entertainment for the evening," she said with a gleam of malicious mischief in her amber eyes.

Sai actually found himself wanting to smile as he stared down at the throng of women below with expectant expressions on their faces. Looking over at the woman standing next to him, he twisted his wrist, easily causing her to loosen her grip on him. His fingers curled around her wrist as he gave in to the amused grin that refused to be held back.

"All right then. Come on," he taunted, jumping from the beam and pulling her with him.

"Oh, damn," she gasped in surprise, finding herself in his arms in a bridal carry as he gracefully touched down on the floor below. She sighed with relief as he set her on her feet, safe and sound.

"Crank it up and take it off!" Sakura bellowed, having had ten too many drinks.

This party was about to become an unmanagable massacre. Reiki rushed to the edge of the mass of women as they moved forward toward the lone man in a wave of horny, half drunk female humanity. She shrieked when she was jerked by the arm from the tail end of the oncoming tidal wave.

"Poor Sai," she murmured, standing against the wall with Temari and Shizune.

"Poor Sai, my ass, look at him," Temari snorted.

They all looked at the man who was having his clothes methodically removed from his body by the women around him as he gyrated against them and kissed them all in turn.

"He's living Kakashi's wet dream. I bet someone's jealous," Shizune remarked, covering her mouth to giggle.

"Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!" the irate silver haired ninja shouted as he stomped around on the roof.

"Shouldn't we save him?" Shino asked somewhat concerned as they watched from their rooftop vantage point.

"FROM WHAT?" Kakashi raged thinking it should be him down there. He was one of the few men in the village that WASN'T getting married. He deserved that attention.

"Yeah, if only we could all suffer so much," grumped the feral Kiba.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get down there," Chōji suggested upon seeing his lusty blonde fiancée affixing her mouth to that of the almost naked ninja.

The trio of women against the wall was watching the disaster unfold at a safe distance when their respective husband and fiancés dropped down from the ceiling in front of them. They squealed and huddled together in surprise from the unexpected entrance.

"So would you three like to stay for the bedlam or get out of here with us?" Naruto asked, holding out his hand for his wife. He smiled at her as she took it.

"Take me wherever you want to. I'm yours," she responded which elicited a chorus of 'awwws' from her female companions and eye rolls from their male counterparts.

"Seriously," he said, as screams erupted from the crowd when the other men invaded the party. "We should really go...NOW."

The sexual excitement permeated the room with stifling intensity and the trio of couples fled to the roof of the Hokage's building.

"Your mother is going to kill you," Naruto pointed out smugly as they inhaled the cool fresh nighttime air.

"It's just as much your fault as it is mine. It was your big idea to send in your spy and crash the party," Reiki reminded him, looking up at the stars that dotted the vast velvety black sky.

Naruto grunted because she was right. He trapped her body between his and the waist high wall that surrounded the roof. Kissing her teeth at first because she could not stop laughing, he chuckled at her until her lips closed before pressing his to them. After giving her a kiss, he lay down on top of the wide wall, playing with her braids after she lay her head on his chest. They both watched the other two couples who were in opposite corners of the roof and talking in hushed tones.

"You know, you're looking at the future leaders of this village, don't you?" he said, tugging on one of her braids.

"You being the Hokage right?" she inquired, smiling broadly.

"Of course."

"Okay. Iruka will be your top advisor and head of the council. Shikamaru will be the leader of your military without a doubt. Is that correct?"

"And that is why I'm so glad you're my wife," he murmured, leaning up to kiss her forehead. "You're beautiful, smart, and strong. I love you."

Reiki could only smile through the tears that choked her and prevented her from returning the sentiment. The future held so many incredible possibilities for them. Pressing her hand to her belly, there was one unknown prospect that both captivated her and terrified her. Her body relaxed into his when Naruto's hand covered hers after his arms wrapped around her waist. She leaned into him as he sat behind her on the wall holding her.

"I can help you. I know what's inside of you and I understand the power you hold. You and the baby will be just fine," he whispered in her ear, kissing her cheek. He had full confidence in what he said. The nine tails had promised him to help him harness and control the power of this strange new being that would be coming into this world. He had in turn swore to Kurama if he did not keep his oath, he would destroy himself if necessary to take the demon out. Stroking her head and her back, he could not imagine ever having to leave her.


	23. Chapter 23

There were no invasions, no bids for takeovers, and the Akatsuki and their desire to trap and control the bijū was largely forgotten. Thankfully peace came to Konoha except among some of the families. Another war of sorts had broken out. There seemed to be a wedding every week for several months as everyone officially took the plunge and tied the knot, pledging life and love forever. Some unions were more peaceful than others. Everyone could only imagine what the marriage would hold thereafter.

Shikamaru and Temari's wedding was something akin to a meeting of two warring clans. The Nara's claimed one half of the space of the wedding tent while Gaara and Kankurō along with all of their friends from the Leaf Village sat on the other side. There was a definitive break between the two groups of people supporting the bride and groom. It basically wound up being a difference in who supported the marriage and who didn't. Yoshino Nara had no qualms about making her true feelings known about the whole event as she sat with her arms crossed and a deep scowl on her face. Her husband sat with his hands clasped behind his head with a bored look of indifference on his face. Everyone else wondered when the fights were going to break out. That waited until the vows were said and people had moved on to the reception afterward.

It began innocently enough. Ensui Nara was walking back toward his table when he bumped into Gaara who was standing on the edge of a group of his friends while they talked. After a mumbled apology the man continued on his way. However, Kankurō was already in a foul mood, feeling his family and his sister had been insulted by the obvious disdain and nonacceptance of the union by the members of the Nara clan. Unfortunately in his state of offense he did not take into account that it was the women, particularly Shikamaru's mother, who were against it. The Nara men really didn't give a damn.

"Hey, can you at least sound sincere when you apologize?" Kankurō barked, stepping away from the group to confront the man.

"I apologized. That's enough," Ensui said, wearing the standard Nara expression of apathy as he gazed at the livid, make-up wearing shinobi of the Sand Village. Turning away, he did not see or expect the puppeteer to come after him.

"Kanku - " Reiki could not get out his full name before she felt her husband's hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. She felt his warm breath tickling her neck when he whispered in her ear.

"You might want to leave now," he warned her, stepping around her to follow Kankurō who had just reached his target and whirled him around to gain his attention. "Oh, man...Gaara - "

"Yeah, I know. Moron," the impassible redhead grumbled in reference to his brother, coming along. It was time to put out a fire.

The first punch was thrown by Ensui and the fight was on. Allies flooded from both sides to the fight in the middle to support his chosen pugilist. This caused other scraps to break out among the men while the women simply looked on at the brawl that was overtaking the celebration.

"Dammit!" the six month pregnant Temari screamed, battling the tears that wanted to fall. She was upset with herself and the disaster that had become of her wedding celebration. She should be out there kicking ass and to hell with the names. Instead she was standing here crying and feeling helpless as her body rebelled against her due to the hormonal surges of pregnancy.

"Come on," Reiki said, taking her by the arm and leading her away from the fracas. "They're men. They'll fight it out, come out all bloody and bruised, have a drink and be the best of friends. We'll come back later."

"Are you sure?" Temari sniffed, wiping away her tears. "Can it really be that simple?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," she replied, noticing that several of the other women had joined them in retreating from the fray.

They waited it out at Reiki's house, returning later to find things exactly as she said they would be. Several of the men were already so drunk they had passed out and were lying on the ground or tables or draped over chairs. It looked like the horrid aftermath of a deadly war with all of the men sporting various degrees of physical damage incurred during the battle of pride and stupidity. The battered men, seemingly dead but only dead drunk, were scattered all over the place.

"It's sad...it's really sad," Reiki muttered as she looked around at the carnage, tripping over a foot that was attached to a body halfway hidden under a table. Immediately recognizing the orange and black pants on the legs sticking out, she bent down to examine the injuries he had received. Bending over Naruto, he seemed perfectly fine except for being asleep. She screamed when his arms suddenly enveloped her shoulders and pulled her down for a kiss as she hovered over him to inspect his face.

Naruto felt as if a bomb went off in his head. He recognized the flare of power that burst forth from her. Apparently the baby had thought she was in danger and sent out a surge of chakra to protect her. He could feel the energy popping up across her body and did not have to open his eyes to know the orange flames devoid of heat would be licking at his body as they came from hers. Tapping into Kurama's chakra, he fought fire with fire to exstinguish the power surge that had been meant to protect her.

"Are you okay?" he asked his wife as she lay on his chest breathing heavily.

"I am now," she puffed, using her shaky arms to push herself up to a sitting position.

Naruto lifted her shirt to inspect the seal. Her belly was beginning to round out a bit and she had just hit the three month mark of pregnancy. Tracing the seal with his finger, he noticed a few of the symbols had changed.

"What the hell..." he mumbled, leaning closer to get a better look. Apparently her skin stretching had altered the shape of some of the symbols.

This was an unforseen complication. It was the beginning of several more difficulties as the pregnancy progressed. Not only was her and the baby's condition carefully watched, so was the seal that had to be repaired and fortified occasionally. A few times the adjustments were not made before the problem was known. One time it almost resulted in their house being burned down after she was turned into a human flame thrower when the bit of Kurama inside of her decided to test her abilities. Most often the effects were funny with someone being zapped by random bolts of lightning like chakra or the occasional miniature fireball that would put a nice sizzle across an unsuspecting victim's keister. The whole village would be able to relax again when her pregnancy was over.

After Shikamizu, Temari and Shikamaru's son was born, Reiki became his babysitter when he was six weeks old. They named him Shikamizu which means water deer because Temari had gone into labor with him while in the hot spring and stayed there through most of the process. She told them it made the contraction hurt less. After having the baby, she was ready to get her pre-baby body back and Reiki was near the end of her pregnancy with only six weeks to go. They both agreed it would be good practice for Nariko who was about to become a big sister. Nariko loved the baby with tons of black hair on his head. She thought he was the greatest doll ever until he cried. With only two weeks to go before her brother arrived, she would have to get used to it soon.

"Mama, Mizu's too noisy," she complained, covering her ears when he began to cry. "Take him home. Give him back!"

"What about when your little brother cries?" Reiki asked, sticking the bottle in the wailing child's mouth. "We can't give him away now can we?"

"Yes, we can. Give him to Uncle Shika and Aunt Temari," she grumbled, poking her out her bottom lip.

Reiki smiled at her daughter who was almost two and a half years old. She knew what her husband would look like if he had been a redhead like he wanted because this child was his mini-me with huge brilliantly blue eyes that glared at her with envy as she fed the hungry infant.

"What will he be like, Mama?" Nariko inquired, climbing onto her mother's lap and shoving the baby over.

"Nariko!" she chided the child when she almost dropped the blissfully unaware baby who was content with his bottle. Shifting the infant and repositioning him in her arms, she made room for both of them in her lap. She would have to get accustomed to this.

Naruto came around the corner to see the sweet picture of family bliss in the rocking chair in the living room. Hearing his daughter rattling off questions to her mother who was distracted with the two children, he backed up a bit where he could watch and listen without being seen.

"I don't know," she answered, truly puzzled with the thought. She had often pondered the possibilities herself. As if responding to them talking about him, the baby began to move and it felt like he was doing an underwater ballet in her tummy. She could not keep the smile from her face when the soon-to-be big sister pressed her ear and hands against her mother's rotund belly.

"What are we going to name him?"

"What would like to name him?"

"Mr. Whiskers?" Nariko ventured, perplexed when her mother laughed. She liked that name. It was the name of her favorite kitten who was all black except for his white whiskers. "Well, Daddy has whiskers on his cheeks. What if little brother has them?"

"He might, but we still won't name him Mr. Whiskers," Reiki chuckled, kissing her daughter's forehead.

"What about Daisuke?" Naruto inquired, coming out of hiding to join them.

Reiki stared at him warily. The name was faintly reminiscent of one she had never wanted to hear again. "What about Daitaro? It means great firstborn son," she suggested instead. She would not waver on **not** naming the baby Daisuke.

"We'll decide for sure later," he responded not wanting to ruin the peaceful moment with an argument. Besides, he noticed his wife suddenly looked incredibly uncomfortable. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," she gasped, feeling as if her insides were being ripped apart. "It's not time yet, but -"

Naruto moved forward swiftly, taking Shikamizu and Nariko into his arms. He watched helplessly as his wife pressed her lips together until they turned white from the pressure to withhold the scream of agony.

"I'll be right back. I'm taking the kids to Shikamaru and Temari," he told her calmly, not giving in to the panic rising inside of him.

Reiki nodded, unable to open her mouth. If she did, she would release the scream from the pain that seized her body and would not let go. Concentrating on making herself breathe, she opened her lips enough to force out the breath she had been holding before inhaling slowly and deeply. Although she thought it was too early, the baby had other plans. Gripping the arms of the rocking chair and trying not to break them into splinters, she hoped her husband would be back soon with help as a flood of water gushed from between her legs.

"Oh, Kami, please," she begged when the next contraction held her in it's clutches and squeezed her body.

There was no stopping him now at all. Today would be her son's birthday.

A scream that made his blood grow cold and nearly congeal in his body made Naruto break into a headlong run when he was near his house. Jiraiya and Tsunade would just have to catch up later. He had to get to her. Throwing open the door, he was greeted with another unexpected but less horrifying sound - the sound of a baby crying. In the middle of the living room floor, he saw his sweating, blood covered wife sitting there holding their newborn son wrapped in her skirt.

"Reiki," he gasped, dropping to his knees beside her. He touched her and was shocked to feel how cold her skin felt despite the rivulets of sweat trickling down her face.

"He's here," she said, trying to smile as her lower lip quivered uncontrollably.

"Oh, my baby!" Tsunade yelled as she walked into the house. She hurried to the bathroom to retrieve towels. "Jiraiya! Get some blankets and sheets! Naruto! Get some water!"

Naruto hated to leave her but he did as ordered by his mother-in-law who he knew meant business when she began hollering orders to them.

They returned to Reiki at about the same time with all of the requested items in their hands. Tsunade checked out her daughter and began cleaning her up while she clung to the baby in her arms.

Reiki was pale and weak, tired after the short but hard labor that she had endured all alone. She was unable to resist when her mother took the baby to completely clean him off and check him. It was hard not to see the expression of bewilderment and slight disgust on her mother's face as she looked at the baby.

"Mama, don't," Reiki pleaded with tears in her eyes.

"Don't what, baby?" she asked, handing the baby to Jiraiya whose eyebrows immediately drew together and a deep scowl turned his mouth downward.

"What's wrong?" Naruto inquired after seeing Jiraiya's drastic change in expression.

"Don't look at him like that. He's my child," Reiki sobbed, making her husband become overwhelmed with apprehension.

"What the hell is going on? Give me my son," he demanded harshly. He defensively held the baby to his chest, staring down at him.

The first eye catching characteristic was the thick line of white hair down the middle of the baby's head. He found it slightly amusing that the baby had been born with a mohawk and smiled. His eyes moved across the face that looked fine - everything was where it should be. Awww! And there were whisker marks on his cheeks. The anxious father counted fingers and toes - ten and ten. Two legs, two feet, two arms, two hands, two ears - the ears! The top was slightly pointed with the faintest tufts of orange fur at the tips. Then the baby opened his eyes.

"Oh, damn," he mumbled seeing what they had seen. The baby's eyes were red with vertical slits like Kurama's and Naruto's when he took on the fox's form. So that's what a hybrid looks like - the very first one of his kind.

~\0/~

"Mama, had a puppy!" Nariko squealed with delight upon seeing her brother the first time.

Naruto chuckled and the grandparents were flabbergasted with the child's forthrightness. Reiki was too tired to notice. Her chakra reserves had been drained to almost nothing during the baby's birth. She stubbornly insisted for everyone to leave her alone that her body would heal itself and she would be fine.

"Nariko, hush!" Tsunade reprimanded her granddaughter who stared up at her quizzically.

"But he - " Her pudgy little finger was stroking his furry ear.

"Sweetie, the proper term would be kit. A fox baby is a kit," Reiki interjected to save them all from suffering anymore discomfort or disillusioning the proud big sister.

"Daddy, are you a fox?" she questioned him, raising her arms to signal she wanted him to hold her.

"Something like that," he answered, smiling at her while she traced the whisker marks on his cheeks with her tiny little hands.

"Is that why you have these?"

"Yes."

"And brother has them too?"

"Yes."

"I knew he would!" she shrieked, clapping her hands happily. "Kitsune!"

Naruto kissed her on the cheek and hugged her. "Do you want that to be his name?"

"Well, he's a fox too right?"

Kitsune Uzumaki.

...

"Aren't you carrying this just a little bit too far?" Reiki groused, shaking her head as Naruto pulled up the hood complete with pointed fox ears on top over the baby's nearly bald head.

"Oh, honey, it's cute. Look!" he exclaimed reminding her of the overexcited fourteen year old she used to know. He held out the newborn bundled in an orange sweatshirt and matching pants.

Reiki had to admit it was just precious. Her little fox complete with ears and whiskers. They didn't even need the damn fabric ones on the hood for the full look but it was terribly cute. She was not sure if the whole village was conspiring against them to laugh at them or was simply trying to help them make the best of a bizarre situation as fox themed gifts from clothing to toys poured into their home, filling the nursery and spilling into Nariko's room.

The big sister was very pleased with the large collection of fox plushies of all sizes and shapes she was acquiring. Even Gaara had the nerve to show up with a big smile and stuffed fox nearly as tall as him. As if Nariko didn't already love him enough, she would undoubtedly be enamored with him forever for that gift. The defining moment came when he handed the burnt orange bodysuit complete with tail and ears to the not-so-ecstatic mother.

"I hate you," she muttered, barely able to hide her smile as she tried to look positively livid while staring at the suit.

"No, you don't," he said, hugging her briefly.

No, she didn't. Damn him. Reiki wanted to be irate and completely offended but the thought of her little kit in the outfit was beyond words in describing its cuteness. Heaving a deep sigh, she folded the piece of material and lay it in her lap. Smiling at her husband, she watched as he paced their bedroom with the baby in his arms talking a mile a minute as if the tiny infant could understand him perfectly.

"I don't think he was this proud when Nariko was born," Reiki said, laying down in the bed when dizziness washed over her. After closing her eyes, she felt Gaara's fingers tenderly stroking over her cheek and hair.

"You've got to understand. Not only does he have a son but his son is like him. It's kind of a special thing between us jinchūriki when we find one of our own, someone to bond with for the first time in our lives," he murmured, his fingers pausing on her cheek before continuing the comforting gesture.

"But Kitsune's not a jinchūriki. He's...different," she mumbled, drowsiness falling over her like a soft cloud.

"That's true, but he's close enough and even more unique. He's Naruto's son. He has many people who understand him. The whole village won't revile him like they did his father either. Naruto survived it and look at the kind of man he is. Kitsune will be just fine," he said, patting her arm to reassure her.

"Gaara?"

"What?"

Reiki opened her eyes to look at him to see his jade green eyes were focused intently on her face. "Do you want to get married?" she inquired with a sleepy smile.

"Someday."

"Have children too?"

Why was she asking all of these questions? She needed sleep. "Those would be nice," he answered simply, brushing his fingers across her cheek with feather light pressure to relax her.

"Gaara?"

"What?" His patience was wearing thin. He was about to put her to sleep whether she liked it or not.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Go to sleep," he murmured unsure as to what she was thanking him for. Not willing to ask because he knew she was stalling, he kept his peace. He waited until he was sure she was asleep to repay her for saving his life. Pressing his hand to her forehead, he steadily infused her body with much needed chakra. She could not refuse his help if she were asleep.

Naruto had watched the interaction silently, holding the sleeping baby in his arms. Jealousy pricked at him, making his body tense when he saw Gaara lean forward to kiss her forehead. The baby stirred and squawled in reaction to his father's flood of negative emotions.

"Hold your emotions. He will always know what you're feeling. You know better than to think I would do something inappropriate to your wife," Gaara admonished him, standing up from the chair beside her bed. As much as Naruto had changed, he still allowed his emotions to occasionally run rampant. "She's willful and pigheaded just like you. I don't know how you two survive each other."

"We do quite nicely," Naruto rejoined with the slightest bit of annoyance straining his voice. Holding the baby out to Gaara, he proudly announced, "And we're making more of us."

"Yes, and it's still debatable if that is a good thing or a bad thing," he returned dryly.

"Was that a joke?"

"Yes. Yes it was."

* * *

Thank you Jebest for the fabulously cute idea of the fox themed clothes. I do appreciate the fantastic input from my readers.


	24. Chapter 24

Reiki was sitting in the bed drifting off to sleep. She had just fed Kitsune who was asleep on her chest held in place securely between her breasts and Nariko was snuggled up to her side and asleep as well. Naruto was...somewhere. She was too tired to remember where. Just as sleep overtook her an unfamiliar voice ricocheted off the walls of the house and frightened her to wakefulness. Kitsune awoke and began bawling. A fox tail formed out of the orange chakra that poured out of his little body while the energy made a protective barrier around him and began to extend over his mother and sister.

"Where are they?" the deep voice bellowed again.

"Mama," Nariko shrieked in confusion and fright, joining her brother with her own loud chorus of tears.

A massive man with white hair braided against his skull and extending down his back as well as white hair on his dark-skinned face appeared in the doorway. He had not even taken off his sunglasses upon entering the house. His lips curled into a smile revealing a set of perfect white teeth. The smile that was meant to be a warm greeting was taken as sinister and threatening by the terrified mother.

Reiki could see the handles of the many katanas strapped to his back poking above his head and shoulders but was helpless to anything against this unknown threat as she huddled with her children on the bed. Her chakra reserves had still not replenished themselves, despite Gaara's help. She was beginning to get worried that it was quite possible the baby had drained too much from her, and she would never get it back. Of course he was only a week old so there was plenty of time. Raising her hand in what she knew was a useless attempt to shield them, she was surprised when the man was suddenly blown back, not just against the wall but through it.

"WAIT!" Naruto yelled, stepping through the new doorway that was outlined in a vague shape like that of man who had just made it.

"Move!" Reiki screamed when she felt the power beginning to build and redirect to the man who was hauling himself from the rubble and shaking his head. This chakra was not coming from her. Staring down at the squalling infant in her arms, she was not sure whether to be afraid or comforted by the realization that her baby was protecting her and his sister. If he's this powerful now, what would he be like grown up? Glancing at her husband, she contemplated what kind of power he truly held within him and kept under tight control.

"Kitsune, stop!" he shouted, taking on the one tailed form of the fox himself. He had learned during his wife's pregnancy that the only thing that could neutralize Kurama's power was using the fox's power against itself. Standing in front of the stunned man who had finally made it to his feet, Naruto blocked and absorbed the defensive blast. Falling to his knees, he coughed and panted for air. It felt like he had been smashed by a boulder.

"What the hell is going on here?" Reiki and the stranger hollered in unison.

"Honey, this is B, Killer B. He's a friend," Naruto gasped, struggling to get to his feet.

"It's hard to believe someone with the word killer in their name could be a friend," she groused, desperately attempting to comfort the screaming baby who was now completely inconsolable.

"He's like me," her husband added, seeing the meaning register in her eyes as they widened considerably.

"Oh," she mumbled, feeling like crying herself since the baby would not stop.

"Let me try," the big man offered, holding out his large hands that looked capable of cradling the baby in just one of them.

Reiki instinctively drew back, holding the baby tightly against her. She changed her mind when she saw the hurt look go across his face. Biting her lower lip, she edged off the bed to stand in front of the man.

"Hold out your arms," she told him, moving between them to carefully settle the baby into the crook of his elbow.

Killer B looked down at the pretty woman standing between his arms. He could have held her and the baby with room left over with the little red-headed girl who was sitting on the bed staring at him with large blue eyes. It was undisputable that she belonged to Naruto. He felt the mother shift away which drew his attention to the tiny baby he was holding on his own. It did not take long for the baby to stop crying when he began swaying him gently.

Upon hearing about the unusual son of the nine tails' jinchūriki, he had set out for Konoha to see the half-ling for himself. The child looked almost like any other baby. He traced the fuzzy pointed ear and roused the infant who sleepily opened his red eyes.

"There it is!" he exclaimed, recognizing the eyes he had seen on child's father when he took on the nine tails' form. How odd and wonderful. It wasn't everyday two children had completely different colored eyes yet both could claim to have eyes just like their father. This was a rare family indeed. Looking at the mother it was easy to see that she was the child of Lady Tsunade and what's his name...the white haired pervert.

Reiki moved over to make room for the man to sit down on the bed with them. She smiled when he leaned toward her to put the baby back into her arms. It would be nice to someday meet at least one of Naruto's friend without a dramatic entrance of some sort. Cuddling the calm and quiet baby against her along with her daughter being tucked back under her arm, she tried to settle back into a comfortable position in the bed. Fatigue had set back in and despite the recent upset, she was ready to take that nap they had been trying for earlier.

"Naruto, why don't you and your friend go visit Mama and Daddy?" she suggested. She didn't care where they went just as long as he took the loud and boisterous man out of the house.

"All right. We'll be back later," he told her, kissing her briefly on the lips before leaving.

"No rush. Take your time," she yawned, closing her eyes and allowing herself to drift off to sleep before they even left.

"Hey, I'll fix that," B offered, surveying the hole he had made in the wall.

"Don't worry about it. Let's go."

~\..'../~

* * *

Pain lay in his bed staring into the darkness despite being able to see absolutely nothing. His mind was filled with too many thoughts to sleep. He had heard about the new breed of demon. Something unusual had been bred and born in Konoha and he wanted it. Hearing his beautiful and alluring partner sigh contentedly in the dark beside him, his mind began to formulate a plan. Maybe he should consider more subversive, less obvious means of attacking and undermining his opponent. Reaching for her blindly, his fingertips brushed her soft skin and she moaned his name. His mind formed a picture of the blue haired, gray eyed woman with the sexy labret piercing. Konan was his partner in battle and in the bed; both places she was equally useful and brought him much pleasure.

"Konan," Pain murmured, stroking over her breast. The feeling of her nipple drawing to a hard peak against his palm made his manhood spring to life instantly. He had just finished with her not too long ago but the thoughts he had going through his mind were exciting him in all ways.

"Pain," she whispered back to him, pulling his lips to hers as she mounted him.

Pain moaned as her warm, wet body slowly slid down his full length. Holding her close to him, he told her of his plans while she moved on top of him at a wonderfully languid pace that was pleasing to them both. The more he talked, the more aroused they both became with the prospect of capturing the half-breed. He also pondered exactly how much the idea of seducing the handsome blonde jinchūriki added to her excitement. How long would it be before Naruto's lovely wife caught onto the scheme and stepped in to stop it? It would be interesting to see. He was about to start a new kind of battle; a subtle, insidious attack that they will never see coming. Hopefully not until it's too late. They would be at their weakest when separated and emotionally damaged. Then he would take the half-breed.

~\..'../~

* * *

"What's going on?" Reiki asked Shikamaru who was leaning against the wall with his permanent expression of boredom on his face. A crowd of men had gathered at the village gates and a few women were huddled together to whisper amongst themselves around the outskirts of the increasing numbers of male onlookers.

"There's a new woman in town," he answered, taking Kitsune from her arms.

"A new woman, huh? Since when is one woman so interesting?" she muttered, smiling when he made a funny face at Nariko to make her giggle. The little girl clung to her mother's dress and peeked around her legs furtively at the man who would one day be her sensei; and much further in the future, if things worked out right, her father-in-law.

"Not since you, dear friend," he told her, jiggling the six month old baby in his arms.

"What's up?" Killer B inquired, laughing loudly when they both jumped at the sound of his loud voice.

"Uncle B!" Nariko squealed, wrapping her tiny arms his legs.

"C'mere, Red," he laughed, picking up the child who shrieked happily in response.

Sometimes Reiki worried about her child. She had an affinity for the weird and wonderful especially where the jinchūriki were concerned. The child's favorite thing about B was his long thin moustache and goatee. No matter how much the child patted or tugged, he never grew impatient with her. It was sometimes easy to forget the power and violence contained within these people. She wondered when he would be leaving the village since he had already stayed for half a year. After the explosive greeting Killer B had received from Kitsune, it prompted the child's father and grandfather to seal away his powers until he was old enough to be taught to control them. The Nine Tails' chakra would occasionally manage to break through, however, Reiki had learned to siphon it off to rebuild her own depleted stores that had prohibited her ability to heal herself. She was almost back up to her optimum level.

"Where's Naruto?" Shikamaru queried, handing the baby back to her when she opened her arms.

"At his parents' graves. He's expecting me there soon. He just wanted a moment alone. B? You coming?" she asked when he could not seem to unhinge the little redhead from his person.

"I suppose I am," he responded, planting the girl on his hip and following the mother.

~...~

"Mom, Dad, I need to talk to you," Naruto said, pressing his forehead against the smooth, shiny surface of the marker.

"What is it, son?" they asked in unison, each with a hand on his shoulders.

"I'm afraid. I want to be a great husband and father. I want to be the best Hokage for this village someday. I need your advice." He waited patiently as his parents regarded him in a contemplative silence.

"Just keep doing what you're doing. Apparently you're doing it right. Your wife loves you and you have two wonderful children. There's no great wisdom I can give you except to love her and those children and hold them as dear to you as your very own life," his father instructed him, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. "I'm proud of the man you have become."

"We both are," his mother added.

"I love them all more than my own life. I would die to protect them if I had to," he murmured, accepting his mother's comforting embrace.

"I would do the same for him," Reiki announced as she entered the small family temple.

"I know you would," Kushina returned, holding out her arms for her grandson. She tickled the baby under the chin to make him smile, laughing when his prominent little white fangs showed along with the other of his four front teeth that had come in.

"How is he?" Minato asked, taking the child from his wife. He pushed back the hood of the little fox bodysuit he was wearing to look at his ears that were becoming more prominent and fox-like: they were more pointy, growing thicker and darker orange fur. The fox demon had always been a part of his life (and now afterlife) but never in such a way as this.

"Better. Less destructive now that he has a seal. We finally finished all the repairs to the house. And your son has learned not to bring over unannounced guests," Reiki told them with a smile. She kissed the whiskered cheek of her husband that was blushing brightly from embarrassment.

They continued their light-hearted visit with his parents who savored the chance to be with their grandchildren and their son. Reiki decided it might be best if she left and allowed the three of them time together. She was strolling down the main street, doing a bit of window shopping when a blue haired stranger in the dress shop caught her eye. Scrutinizing the unusual yet very attractive woman intently, she did not notice the newly married Sakura Lee standing beside her. The woman in the store was dressed in a revealing bodysuit that left nothing to the imagination because it was like a second skin in a shiny material that was the same color as her hair.

"So that's her?" Sakura asked, patting Reiki on the arm after startling her.

"I suppose so," she muttered in return without breaking free from her perusal of the woman.

"Looks like trouble to me," the ninja of the pink hair sighed.

"If anyone would know..." her companion rejoined good-naturedly.

"True," she laughed lightly in return. "Just be wary of that one. I don't like her."

Reiki would be forced to agree with her unlikely ally.

~\..'../~

* * *

Reiki had been awarded a rare moment alone and took the time to wander off to her favorite spot by the stream. When she arrived, she was disappointed to see someone was already there - someone very unwelcome. Peeking through the limbs of the bush in front of her, she watched the blue haired woman as she sat with her feet in the water. Sighing heavily with exasperation, she decided to go a little further downstream to be alone. Hearing the woman release a noisy sigh of her own, she decided to stay. The woman had been here for two weeks yet not a single village female had extended their hands in hospitality much less friendship. They talked _about _the woman a lot, but never _to _her. Many village males had talked to her, most with less than admirable intentions. She had refused to talk to the enticing stranger afraid that it would put herself and her family in danger of receiving an unwanted and unnecessary heartache. Guilt pricked her conscience when she suddenly remembered what it was like to be viewed with suspicion and hatred, people making the worst assumptions, just because of how she looked. 'Lock up your husbands and sons! There's a home wrecker in town!' seemed to be the attitude the women, including her, had taken. How easily she had forgotten what it was like.

Stepping through the foliage into the clearing, Reiki made a little noise so she would not startle the woman with her approach.

"To be the daughter of two legendary sannin, you sure are loud," the woman commented.

Reiki stopped in her tracks, feeling the hair raise across the back of her neck like that of an irritated cat. She almost forgot why she wanted to be friendly to this woman. Pushing the corners of her mouth upward into a smile from the murderous scowl, she moved to sit beside the woman before removing her sandals to put her feet in the refreshing cold water as well.

"I'm Reiki Uzumaki," she introduced herself, extending her hand to the woman. Her skin began to prickle as her annoyance increased when the woman coolly glanced at her outstretched hand then raised her light gray eyes to give her face a critical stare. She immediately felt like she was being measured as a woman, friend or foe. Pulling her hand back, she lifted her chin with an air of haughtiness because she did not appreciate the reprehensible gaze. "And you are..." she prompted when the woman continued to stare in silence.

"My name is Konan," she returned tonelessly, turning her eyes back to study something on the other side of the stream.

Reiki would say it was nice to meet her but she had never been a big fan of lying even to be polite. Reaching up to stroke the back of her neck, she tried to make the aggravating stinging sensation cease.

"How long will you be staying in our village?" she asked boldly, kicking her feet gently in the freezing water.

"Not much longer," Konan answered curtly, wishing she could leave now. She hated it here. So far she had been unsuccessful in getting close to Naruto because when he was not with his family he was never alone and usually with more than one of his friends at a time. Had the wife assigned bodyguards to keep him 'safe'? A smirk tilted her lips when she realized she might have underestimated the woman sitting next to her.

"Well, I should be going. I have to get back home," Reiki announced, standing up with her sandals dangling from her finger. Her patience was nonexistent for dealing with the reticent woman who she was apparently wasting her time in trying to be nice to.

"Wait!" Konan exclaimed, grabbing her by the wrist. If Pain could switch his tactics, so could she. "Why don't you come by the hotel and have a drink with me tonight?"

"I can't drink because I'm...why don't you come to my house and have dinner? I'm sure you're sick of those four walls anyway. And you can meet my family," she added with a sincere smile this time.

"I would love to," she replied quite truthfully. Sometimes this being nice crap really works.


	25. Chapter 25 Revised and Republished

*CHAPTER 25 REWRITTEN* Okay, I've heard you all loud and clear. After rereading it, I had to agree that the original end of this chapter did suck right out loud. Hopefully this is a better end (well, cliffhanger) to this chapter than before.

* * *

Reiki tried not to stare at their lovely guest who was dressed in a royal blue silk kimono that clung to her every curve, dared to burst open with every breath, and rode all the way up to her mid-thigh when she sat down. What rack in the dress shop had that little getup been hanging on? The only rack than anyone could concentrate on at the moment, including Reiki, was the one of the half-dressed woman sitting in front of her.

Naruto and Killer B could barely eat they were so distracted by the woman. Strategically reaching across her husband to grab the salt, Reiki accidentally - on purpose - punched him in the nose on her way back across with the shaker. Feigning surprise and upset at the blood gushing from his nose, she flung the glass salt shaker at B to hit him right between the eyes. As both men writhed and whined, she politely excused herself, dragging her husband by the ear to the kitchen with her under the guise of getting him an ice pack.

"Honey! What the hell was that?" Naruto hissed, staring up at the ceiling and nearly choking on the blood running down his throat.

"Sorry I ruined your view," she grumbled squeezing the bridge of his nose between her thumb and forefinger.

"OW! DAMMIT!" he yelled, pulling out of her grip to hold his throbbing bloody nose.

"It's not broken. Be still you big baby and I'll heal it," she told him, holding his nose more delicately this time. She stared into his big blue eyes that she loved so much while she stemmed the bleeding and took away the pain. Her chakra and healing powers were back to full strength and maybe even better than ever.

"I can't help but stare. They're just..." he trailed off to look down at her breasts that were pressed against his chest. His hands moved up to them to give them a gentle squeeze as he added, "Right there."

Reiki jerked out of his grip and turned her back to him. "Yeah, well, you can't touch these because you were too busy staring at _those._"

"Oh, Kami, I'm a man, honey, give me a break. I can't help but stare at something like that. It's like putting a steak in front of a dog and telling him he can't eat. I have to look," he said, putting his arms around her waist and kissing her on the back of her neck. "You should know that since your Father is the ultimate voyeur."

"Yeah, well, even so...if you dare to eat anything like that you'll be a dead dog," she pouted, struggling to get out of his grip when he started laughing at her. He was really making her angry and hurting her feelings.

"Stop it," he admonished her, turning her to face him. If she was going to act like a child, he was going to treat her like one. Pulling her against him, he slapped her playfully on the behind.

"Naruto! We have guests!" she chided him, trying to pull out of his bear hug.

"Later we won't. Then you're in trouble, my dear. I plan to give you what you deserve," he whispered, licking her from her shoulder to her earlobe. He felt her quiver in his arms and she moaned lightly which made him want to tell their guests they had to get the hell out of the house - NOW. Popping her on the behind again, he let her go and pushed her out of the kitchen into the dining room.

Reiki smiled at the puzzled Konan. She noticed Killer B had a newly formed lump on his forehead from the salt shaker projectile. As they continued to stare at her questioningly, her face turned as red as her modest floor length kimono that had been specially made for her with extra material around her breasts to keep them covered. If Konan had only bought a kimono that was actually her size and not one for a ten year old child, she would have been covered quite nicely as well.

"If you've finished your dinner, we - " she paused after her voice rose sharply when Naruto's hand plastered itself to her ass cheek.

Maybe she should bring fetching women around more often to get him excited. He had not been like this since before Nariko's birth. As long as it was her he made scream, why should she care what gets him all hot and bothered? Clearing her throat, she suggested they go to the living room for dessert. She could barely wait until later to have hers. Biting her lower lip, she held back a screech when he pinched her behind. Once their guests cleared the dining room, she seized her husband by his black t-shirt and crushed her mouth to his.

"I'll be getting the children ready for bed while you take care of our guests. Your ass is mine later," she warned, giving him a sound slap on the rear before walking away to retrieve the children from their chairs.

"Oh, Mama," he breathed, watching her walk away with a child in each arm. "That's a mother I love to fu-"

"Naruto!" Killer B yelled next to his ear.

"Dammit, man!" he hollered back, shoving the hysterically laughing man out of his face. He never in his life thought he would find a grown up as annoying as he was at twelve years old.

"Me and the lady are going to cut out of here to give you two some time alone. I'm taking her to the bar. See ya later, Blondie," he said, slapping Naruto on the ass.

"Hey!" he bellowed, feeling as if he had been violated. "That's just...wrong!"

"Whatever lover boy. Enjoy your wife," B told him, slamming the door behind them to signal their departure.

"I plan to," he mumbled under his breath.

Naruto decided the bedtime routine could be handled quicker and easier if he helped out. Opening the door to the bathroom, he was surprised to see his wife standing at the sink naked from the waist up with Kitsune splashing away happily in the sink in front of her.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked, getting a good soaking from their son. "What about - "

"They're gone," he answered, moving closer to her. Glancing over at their daughter in the tub splashing and playing in the water also, he thought better of touching Reiki in front the children.

"Gone? What do you mean gone? What did you do?" Reiki inquired, her amber colored eyes narrowing with a suspicious glare at her husband in the mirror.

"I didn't do anything!" he responded hotly, putting his hands on his hips as he stared at her in the reflective glass. Seeing his son leaning toward her breast with fangs bared, he tried to warn her . "Hey, Kitsune's about to - "

"OW!" she shrieked when he bit her on the nipple. "You little beast!"

"That looked painful. Is he hungry?" he asked, watching his wife rub the tender spot. "Can I do that?"

"NO!" she cried out, meeting his gaze in the mirror. "Well, maybe later."

"Daddy!" Nariko shrieked from the bathtub to get his attention.

"What, baby?" he inquired, bursting into a gale of laughter when he saw his daughter in the tub with rubber ducks suctioned to her chest.

"Will I have big boobs like Mommy some day?" she asked innocently, staring down at the ducks.

"Okay, I'm leaving," he muttered, turning on his foot to exit the room. Not only was he slowing things down, he was about to have to answer questions he did not even want to hear or think about. "You and Temari need to be more careful what you say around her. She has big ears and an even bigger mouth. If she's anything like her red headed grandmother, we're doomed!"

Naruto stayed in the bedroom waiting for his wife while bathtime was being finished. After the odd minute long conversations he had with the women in his life, he was afraid to go back in there. Thank Kami he had Kitsune to be on his side. Although it was two to two gender wise in the household, he still knew they were sorely outnumbered and outwitted by the women. And he and Kitsune were supposed to be the cunning and clever foxes...go figure. Brute strength could never win over emotional blackmail like tears and discussions of strictly female matters that would make any man run from the room. Getting restless and wondering what was taking so long, he got up to go to Nariko's room. Carefully opening the door, he saw his wife and mother of his children sitting on the bed reading their daughter a story while his son had his last feeding before bed. 'Lucky little kit,' he thought to himself with a smile. Leaning against the door frame, he watched them while an ache formed so deep within his heart it hurt. If anything ever happened to them...

_"Don't worry, Naruto. I'll help you protect them. That child is as much yours as he is mine. I still plan to have your daughter as my next container," _the old fox demon spoke to him from somewhere long forgotten in his consciousness.

"I already know all that. Go away, I don't want to hear from you tonight," he told the demon from that same place within.

_"I know the thoughts you were having about that woman. Don't do something stupid that you'll all regret," _Kurama warned.

"I'd never do that. Shut up, damn Fox," he growled out loud.

"Naruto?" Reiki called to him. She smiled when he opened the door all the way and walked into the room. "Can you put our little kit to bed?"

"Of course," he replied, leaning over his sleeping daughter to take hold of their son who was dropping off to sleep after getting his belly full.

"Naruto, I love you," she whispered, kissing his lips briefly as he took the baby from her arms.

Damn! Had he really been that obvious with his leering? Thinking back to his wife's violent objection to his behavior, apparently he had. It wasn't his fault Konan had put everything on display for anyone to see. How can a man not look when it's right there? It's just not fair. He had even caught his wife staring at the woman which had been strangely exciting. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he lowered his sleeping son into the crib. He returned to his bedroom to find his wife naked and waiting for him on the bed.

"I should put Kitsune to bed more often if this is the thanks I get," he said, stripping off his clothes to join on her on the bed.

"Maybe so," she whispered, pulling his lips to hers after he lay down beside her.

After sharing a sweet kiss, Naruto took the time to study her body. His hands and eyes drifted over softer, rounder curves that he found incredibly enticing. Gliding his hand over her silky skin and her ample hip, he pulled her against him to show her how much he approved of her body. His member twitched when her eyes fluttered closed and she gasped his name.

Reiki pressed her lips to his throat, feeling his artery pulsing beneath her lips. Her fingers roamed over his tanned skin and explored every inch of his hard muscled chest. She felt him begin to tremble and his member moved between her legs when her fingers grazed over his abdominal muscles. Going lower, she grasped him with her hand and stroked him until he moaned her name. It was her turn to moan when he shifted and brought his lips to her breast, tracing the areola with kisses before licking over the nipple with his warm wet tongue.

"Naruto," she gasped, burying the fingers of her other hand in his thick blond spikes. She bit her lip and tugged on his hair when his soft full lips enclosed the rigid nipple.

Naruto pushed her onto her back and slid into her in one smooth movement. He held her chin with one hand while he kissed her slowly and tenderly to match the gentle, languid movements of his hips. He wanted her to enjoy this as much as he planned to enjoy it. Feeling her hands grasping his behind while pulling him tightly against her, he opened his eyes to look down at her.

"Naruto, please, just take me as you want to. Don't hold back," she urged him, digging her fingernails into his skin.

"Reiki, I - " He could not speak as her fingernails pierced the tender skin of his ass and she raised her hips into him taking him so deeply he felt resistance against the head.

Reiki gasped as a bolt of slight pain mixed with a lot of pleasure shot through her body from him hitting her womb. She backed him out a little, grinding her pelvis into his. The movement caused a fabulous friction that made her grit her teeth to keep from crying out. She opened her eyes to look at him when he jerked his hips to begin moving in and out of her slowly.

"Oh, that's it," she groaned, sliding her hands up his back. Her body was assaulted with pure bliss when he began thrust into her with short, fast strokes.

"I can't last long like this. It feels too good," he warned her, pushing the hair out of her face to look at her. Her eyes had that dreamy, satisfied look and she had not even had orgasm yet, but she must be close.

"Just do it, please," she begged, punctuating her plea with a stunted, sharp cry of pleasure. Refocusing her eyes on him, she told him, "I won't last long either."

That was all he needed to send him into a convulsive fit of ecstasy as he released into her with a muffled yell that he tried to hold back. Thankfully she had been on the precipice as well and his spastic movements gave her the push she needed to have a mind-blowing climax. Naruto kissed every inch of her face unsure if the salt he tasted on his lips was from sweat or tears. Licking his lips before he pressed a kiss to her mouth, he held her shaking body in his arms and kissed her until she stilled.

"There's no one I'll ever want but you. I swear it," he whispered in her ear as he lay beside her without relinquishing her from his arms.

Reiki nuzzled his cheek and embraced him briefly before pressing her body into his to draw some of the warmth radiating from him. She fell asleep in his arms, feeling safe and secure while he watched her sleep.

~\..'../~

"You let her into your house! Near your husband?" Temari bellowed as soon as Reiki walked into the room.

They were meeting to have lunch but suddenly she lost her appetite. They were far too concerned and unbelievably mistrustful of the blue haired woman.

"How could you invite her to dinner?" Shizune inquired with an expression of disapproval on her face.

"You gossipy bunch of old cows!" Reiki yelled at her friends who stood around her in a tight circle.

Then the question and answer session began in earnest. What's she like? Why is she here? When is she leaving? Did she touch Naruto? And on and on the questions went.

"She's really very nice. I'm meeting her this afternoon for a little shopping then we're going out to dinner. Would anyone like to come along?" she asked, glancing expectantly from face to face.

The hemming and hawing began and then the excuses as to why they could not go were given by each woman in turn. Glaring at Sakura and Ino who were busy having their own private gossip session in back, Reiki caustically muttered, "I guess some things never change."

~...~

Reiki was disappointed in the women she called friends. However, that niggling feeling that there was something wrong came back to her. Contemplating if they sensed something she was ignoring, she rubbed the back of her neck as that odd tingling sensation started again. Putting aside her misgivings and attributing them to jealousy on the part of the others, she went to the hotel. Upon finding Konan's room on the third floor, she knocked and waited patiently for an answer. She was just about to knock again when the door cracked opened before opening wide to reveal Konan standing there dripping wet with a towel around her.

"Am I early? I can come back later when you're ready," Reiki offered, feeling a little awkward as the half-naked stranger stood in front of her. She was not unaccustomed to being around women of various states of undress since she and her friends spent a lot of time at the hot springs but being around a woman she hardly knew, alone with her in her hotel room in this state, was a little unsettling.

"It's my fault. I woke up late from a nap. Give me just a minute. You can come in if you want so you don't have to wait in the hall," Konan said with a pleasant smile, turning to go back into the bathroom to finish dressing.

"Okay, thanks," Reiki returned, walking inside the room. She would have felt a little ridiculous waiting in the hall. Sitting down in the chair beside the window, she looked down at the street below to watch the villagers pass by. Her mind was busy plotting out the best order in which to visit her favorite shops to pass the time while she waited. She felt something tugging on her hair, and she jumped to her feet when one of her braids was pulled so hard it hurt.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the other woman apologized, holding something in her hand behind her back.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her eyes narrowing with suspicion when Konan's hand remained behind her back.

"I made something for you," the blue haired woman announced, bringing her hand forward. There were two long needle like structures held between her fingers but there was something else hidden in her cupped palm. Opening her hand, she revealed the large blue paper flower in her hand that matched the one in her hair. "I was going to redo your hair and put this in there. I suppose I should have warned you."

"It's lovely and yes," she murmured, keeping a watchful eye on the long metal instruments in the woman's hand. "A warning would have been nice."

"Can I?" she asked, moving toward Reiki who backed away instinctively. "I just want to thank you for being so kind to me."

"Can I hold those?" Reiki inquired, reaching for the objects that looked capable of being used to commit evil deeds.

"Sure. Just hand them to me when I need them. Hold this too, please." She handed the flower to her new friend, allowing her fingers to linger over the other woman's as she slowly pulled away.

Reiki's eyes flew to hers, surprised to see a warm smile on the unemotional woman's face. She could not help but notice the exotic beauty was quite enchanting when she smiled. Breathing a sigh of relief as her hand wrapped around the metal hair ornaments, she sat down in the chair. She closed her eyes as the woman untied her braids and loosened them before brushing through her long platinum blond locks. Her body relaxed, and she grew drowsy the more Konan worked with her hair. It reminded her of when her mother would do that when she was a little girl. Her skin prickled and her pulse raced from the gentle pressure of the woman's fingers sliding up the back of her neck before they trailed down the sides of her neck and down to her shoulder. She was still not sure what to think of Konan as she stared down at the sharp metal objects in her hand.

"Can you hand me one of those?" she asked, patting Reiki's shoulder.

Reiki handed back one of the metal rods. She held her breath as she waited for what was coming next. This would be the moment of truth. The woman could easily stab her through the neck if she so desired. It would hurt like hell, but Reiki doubted it would be lethal since she could heal herself. Her scalp stung when her hair was pulled slightly as the needle like piece was pushed into her hair to secure it in the ornate bun Konan had twisted it into. She bit her lower lip as she handed her the next rod and then the flower. A smidgen of guilt crept over her for being so mistrustful and slightly paranoid.

"There. You're done," the impromptu hair stylist declared, smoothing her fingers over Reiki's hair one last time. "Want to see what it looks like?"

Reiki stood up, surprised to come nose to nose with her new companion. She swallowed hard when her golden eyes met the woman's piercing gray ones. What was going on here? Why had Konan felt it necessary to move so swiftly and be so damn close? She gasped when she was taken by the shoulders and pushed backward to the mirror hanging on the wall. Still trying to understand what was happening, too shocked to resist being manhandled by the woman in front of her, she allowed her chin to be pushed to the side so she could look over her shoulder to view her new hairstyle.

"What do you think?" Konan queried, purposely standing a little too closely to the blonde she knew she was overwhelming to say the least.

"It-it's lovely," she gasped, trying to ignore the woman's warm breath on her cheek and neck. How close of friends did she want to be? Whatever it might be, it seemed to be going a bit far.

"Yes, it is," she whispered, dragging the back of her fingers along her pretty new friend's cheek.

"Konan, I'm not - " Reiki began tentatively, slowly turning her face to look at the woman whose hand was now resting comfortably on her waist.

"Are you ready to go shopping?" Konan inquired to cut her off, moving away reluctantly.

~...~

She wanted to wait to see how the other woman responded before she pushed her too far and frightened her away completely. It had become quite apparent to her last night how dedicated and completely in love Reiki Uzumaki was with her husband. She was the only female in this forsaken village who had taken the time to be friendly to her. Pain would be angry if he knew she liked this woman. She could not bear to break Reiki's heart by seducing Naruto. So what about breaking his by seducing his wife? It was definitely not the plan Pain had laid out for her, but he was not here. Looking at the big breasted platinum blonde, she could honestly say she was enthralled with the idea of seducing her and her curiosity had been aroused in way she never imagined. This was going to be the most interesting challenge she had taken on in quite a while.

Reiki would swear the woman was flirting with her as they sat in the restaurant waiting for their food. The demure little glimpses, the soft touches on her hand as they talked. If she weren't so tired, she might be a bit more cautious around the stranger. Her feet ached and her arms were sore from carrying the many bags of items ranging from clothes to dishes. She was afraid she had created a monster because the woman had developed a wild-eyed obsession with the power of buying causing her to start purchasing nearly everything in any store they went into. What could the woman possibly do for a living that she could afford so much?

"Konan, are you married?" Reiki inquired casually, sipping her water.

"I have a long time boyfriend. No plans of marriage though," she answered truthfully. Although she was sure Pain loved her in his own special way, she knew he would never ask her to marry him.

Reiki somehow resisted the urge to let out a huge sigh of relief. Apparently she was reading more into the woman's gestures than was really there. If she had a boyfriend and they had been together a while, surely she was not interested in her - in a romantic sense.

"So what kind of work do you do?" she asked, tracing the rim of her glass with her finger.

"I'm an assass - uh, assistant to a consultant. We help people make life changing decisions," the blue haired woman replied mysteriously, finishing off her cup of sake. 'Yeah, as in changing them from being alive to dead,' she thought to herself, signaling the waiter for another tokkuri of sake. For some reason, she was finding it difficult to lie to this woman but she could not tell her the truth either. A little creative word play would have to be employed to skim the truth. Sighing deeply, she pondered what could be happening to her. Too much sake perhaps.

"Sounds like pretty serious and dangerous work," Reiki said, toying with ice cubes in the glass. Why was she acting like a shy girl on a date? A date! Not only was she married she was with another woman for Kami's sake.

"Oh, it is. Some days can be just killer," she returned, bringing the cup to her lips before she laughed at her own inside joke with herself. It must be the sake making her feel and act so weirdly.

Their conversation continued in awkward starts and stops. Sometimes they would reach a pause that did not seem to have an end when one of them would come up with a question or comment to break it. Finally the food arrived and the conversation stopped entirely as they stuffed their faces. After eating, they returned to Konan's hotel room.

"So when can I see you again?" the woman asked, covering her mouth to hide her smile when the blonde's back stiffened so abruptly she was suddenly taller.

This was sounding more like a damn date all the time. Turning to look at the other woman, Reiki chewed nervously on her lower lip trying to figure out how to handle this.

"Reiki, please, I need a friend. I'll be stuck here for several more weeks and I can't bear the thought of being alone. Having to endure the stares, the laughing, the gossiping about me..." she sniffed, allowing big crocodile tears to fall to pull on the woman's heartstrings. A bizarre feeling washed over her briefly. 'Was this what guilt felt like?' she wondered as she continued her fake fit of sorrow and watched Reiki's face dissolve into kind sympathy.

Reiki stepped forward, putting her arms around Konan's shaking shoulders. She resisted the impulse to pull away when the other woman's arms moved around her waist. The sad woman just needed someone to comfort her that's all. Besides, she knew exactly how bad it felt to be treated like a pariah in a strange place with no one to talk to. There had been her father but he had been too busy chasing sake and pretty women wherever they went. She doubted he would have been very understanding anyway.

"I've got to go home but I'll come back to see you tomorrow. Okay?" She ran her fingers through the long blue bangs to move them away from Konan's teary eyes. Her mothering instincts took over, and she wiped away the tears with her fingers before kissing her on the forehead.

"Thank you. You really are the kindest person I've ever met," Konan said, sincerely meaning it.

~...~

"What's with your hair?" Naruto asked as he looked at her. He reached out to touch it, tracing a petal of the fragile paper flower in her hair. It looked like the one Konan wore in her hair.

"Konan did it for me. Do you like it?" she inquired, turning to face him. "I'm going to see her tomorrow."

"So are you dating her now?" he queried, highly entertained by the thought and her reaction. He brushed his fingertips over her warm, dark pink cheek then lowered his lips to hers.

Reiki did not even bother to dignify that question with a response. He had never asked her such a stupid thing when she said that about any of her other friends. She ended the kiss by pulling away and turning her back to him.

"She just needs a friend. I know how she feels right now. That's all. Don't be such a pervert," she admonished him like he was one of the children. Turning back to face him, she pressed her hands against his chest, feeling his pectorals twitch beneath her hands. "Besides, you're the only one I want like that."

"Yeah. But if you did want to date her, I wouldn't mind. I would be upset if I didn't get to see your first kiss though," he teased, receiving a punch in the gut. It was a good thing it was a soft, half-hearted punch that only flung him against the wall instead of through it. Between her and Kitsune causing damage, every wall of the house had been replaced at least once.

"That's enough of that," she stated with finality to dash any hopes of him thinking some of his fondest wet dreams would come true. Looking into the mirror hanging on their bedroom wall, she admired the new hairstyle once more. She decided she would wear her hair like this for a while. At least while Konan was still in the village.

~\..'../~

* * *

_A month later..._

Konan was sitting by the stream where she first met Reiki. Her friend would be arriving soon. Friend. She had never really had one of those before as far as female ones go. There had always been Yahiko and Nagato. A sad smile crossed her face when she thought of them. They were both dead: Yahiko in the literal sense and Nagato in the figurative sense. Nagato had died emotionally after Yahiko's death. He sometimes used Yahiko's body to come to her, to make love to her. The thought made her shiver. She had come here early to think but not about them. Somehow she had gotten very confused and lost focus of her goal. She no longer desired to have any part of doing anything to hurt the woman she had come to actually care about. Especially not kidnapping her son. But how could she betray Pain and not complete her mission? Had she become a traitor by feeling something for the family she had come here to destroy? After splashing some of the cold water from the stream on her face as if to bring herself to her senses, she stared into the crystal blue water. Another reflection joined hers on the slightly rippling surface of the flowing stream.

"I was wondering when you would show up," she said to Pain who stood above her.

"Why are you still here? You were supposed to take the child and return over a week ago," he told her as if she did not already know.

"I won't do it," she whispered, fighting back the tears. She could not allow them to fall. She could not let him know she had developed emotions much less had feelings for the people he hated.

"What did you say?" He gently stroked her hair waiting for her to repeat her words although he had heard her perfectly the first time.

"I won't do it, Nagato," she stated stubbornly, using his real name. She was the only one allowed to do so. Her lips pressed together to hold in the cry of pain when he pulled her to her feet by her hair.

"You will do it, Konan," he commanded her, his voice calm and low as he held her against him while still pulling her hair. "If you don't, I'll gut Naruto right in front of his beautiful wife. Then I'll do the same thing to her in front of you."

"You can't," she gasped in horror betraying her feelings.

"Oh, so I'm right," he murmured, pulling her hair until she grunted in extreme discomfort but refused to cry out still. "How did they turn you? With their touchy, feely, 'can't we all just be friends' bullshit? I never would have guessed that would work on you."

"No. It's not like that. I - " She gritted her teeth when her snatched her head backwards, arching her neck at a painful angle. He was furious with her, and she knew it because he had never hurt her before. He had always protected her from harm, not been the cause of it.

"It's exactly like that, Konan. Take the child and complete the mission I gave you or you will be branded as a traitor. Do you understand?" he asked, releasing her.

Konan fell forward onto her hands and knees. Remaining in a kneeling position, she massaged her sore neck. Turning her head to glare at him, she realized she had never noticed just how cold and unfeeling he could truly be because she had been the same way.

"Do you understand?" he repeated, leaning down to be closer to her face.

"Yes. I understand," she replied, wanting to spit in his lavender, bulls-eye Rinnegan eyes.

Giving her a cruel smile, he issued one last threat. "Take the child or I will kill the parents. Then Kitsune truly will be his father's son...an orphan, just like Naruto."

Konan pressed her lips together and dug her fingernails into the soft earth by her knees. She was not so sure he would not kill them anyway just for the fun of it. She did not want this to happen, but what could she do to stop it? These feelings of helplessness and weakness were quite disturbing. Not feeling anything was so much easier than all of this.

"Konan?"

Konan's head snapped upwards to see Reiki kneeling in front of her. She sat up, throwing arms around the woman's neck. Pain had disappeared as swiftly and soundlessly as he had appeared, and it was just the two of them. She placed her hand against the woman's cheek while staring into her golden eyes.

"What is it? Why are you crying?" Reiki asked, wiping away a large tear with her thumb that rolled down Konan's cheek.

"I was thinking about my boyfriend. I miss him," she lied. She could not miss him since he was right here, and did not miss him at all after their interaction virtually seconds ago.

Reiki studied the woman in front of her. Deep within her gray eyes there was a fear and anguish she did not understand. What happened? What had she really been thinking about? Her cry of surprise was stifled into a squeak of shock when Konan's lips pressed against hers.

"Konan! What the hell..."

"I love you. You've been a great friend. Forgive me," the woman sobbed, pulling the needle like structures from her friend's hair.

Reiki could only gaze at the woman in confusion as the flower fell from her loosed hair to the ground. She yelled out in pain as the objects were thrust into her neck causing a stinging sensation that felt like that of a thousand scorpions. Her vision blurred and her head felt heavy and like it was stuffed with cotton. She found it difficult to breathe and even harder to think as the blue haired woman wavered and went fuzzy in her line vision.

"What did you do to me? Why?"

"It's only a sedative poison. You'll go to sleep and wake up with a hell of a headache but you won't die. I'm here to take your son. My boyfriend's name is Pain. I'm so sorry," she apologized again, catching the woman as she fell forward on her way to losing consciousness. She sat back on her behind to hold her friend until she feel asleep. This was killing her inside and she wished she had never learned to feel anything at all emotionally.

"How...how could you do this to me? Not my baby, please..." she begged, looking into Konan's gray eyes that were filling with tears.

"I have to. I have no choice." She kissed Reiki on the forehead while remorse threatened to crush her under its stifling weight. She had underestimated how much poison it would take to put this woman out. Any other person would have been unconscious soon after the needle had been inserted. It had been excessively cruel to make the woman wear the instruments that would be her final undoing, but it had been a matter of convenience so they would be readily available when needed. Her eyes moved to Pain after he appeared in the clearing from his hiding place. She should have known he was still lurking about. Ignoring his furious glower, she rocked the woman in her arms more to comfort herself than anything.

"You did a fine job, my love," Pain complimented, running his fingers through her hair. He was truly disappointed in Konan that she had let down her guard and allowed them to get to her emotionally. It had almost caused his perfect plan to awry. "Take her to the hideout."

"But Nagato, that wasn't part of the plan," she protested, hearing Reiki make a whimpering sound since she could not talk anymore. The paralytic element of the poison had gone into effect.

"Plans change, Konan," he growled at her, bending down to inspect the blonde woman in her arms. His fingertips traced the contour of her cheek and jaw while he stared into her unfocused amber eyes. "She's quite pretty. I would hate to destroy that beauty."

"Leave her to me," she said, holding her protectively as Hidan and Kakuzu stepped into view.

"No. I don't trust you anymore since you're using your emotions again. Give her to them. You come with me." He held her by the collar of her shirt while Hidan pulled the unconscious Reiki from her arms.

"Don't hurt her or I'll..." Konan warned Hidan with a threatening tone as he stared at the woman in his arms with a salacious leer. She had stopped talking when Pain's eyes fastened on her face and affixed her with such a penetrating glare she could feel it.

"Oh? And you'll do what?" Hidan challenged, baring his teeth in a wide grin. Too stupid to back down from a serious threat, he allowed his fingers to graze the sleeping woman's breast as he held her in his arms.

Konan calmly picked up the paper flower from the ground. With a few folds, she transformed it into a hard as steel and frightfully sharp shuriken. She flung it, burying it in Hidan's forehead. It was not enough to kill him but it would hurt for quite a while. It would also serve as a reminder as to what she would do to him.

"Hurt her in any way and my target will be a bit lower next time," she threatened, smiling as he swallowed convulsively from the thought of his manhood receiving that kind of damage.

Hidan's deep purple eyes blinked in astonishment as the blood oozed from his wound and ran down into his eyes. He could not believe she actually dared to threaten him.

"Come on. Let's go," Kakuzu said, although he was thoroughly enjoying the embarrassment of his partner.

"We should get going as well. We have a half human, half tailed beast to retrieve," Pain announced, taking Konan by the arm.

Konan gave Reiki one last apologetic look as Hidan and Kakuzu walked away with her. Swinging her gaze back to Pain, she tried to keep her expression neutral and free of emotion.

"Are you coming?" He raised an eyebrow and jerked her forward by the arm.

"Do I have a choice?"Despite knowing the answer, she glared at him contemptuously.

"No. You will complete this mission."

~...~

Konan knew there was no choice at all now. She would have to take Kitsune in order to protect the whole family.

"Konan, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked after opening the front door. Apprehension made every muscle in his body tighten when he did not see his wife with her.

"She's not here. She's been taken," she told him, watching the pupil of his eye begin to elongate as a blood-red color seeped in to overtake the blue of the iris.

"What did you do?" he demanded, grabbing her by the throat.

Konan coughed and struggled as he squeezed, the razor-sharp claws on his fingers sinking into the delicate skin of her neck. She would deserve it if he killed her but she needed to be alive to protect her - and him.

"I've done nothing yet," she replied truthfully. Closing her eyes to concentrate, she had to think of a way to get out of here with Kitsune. At least he would be with his mother and could protect her until Naruto could get to them.

Naruto relaxed his grip on her neck thinking he had rendered her unconscious. His incisors grew and his chakra flared when her body was suddenly covered by thousands of small pieces of paper. Letting go, he thought she had disappeared and left behind a paper shell of her body. Looking down at his stinging hands, he saw they were bleeding from a myriad of small cuts.

"Naruto, I have to take Kitsune. I have to do it to save you all," she said, as the pieces of paper slid along her body to gather and form into wings that were attached to her back.

"You can't! I won't let you!" he growled through his teeth, falling forward onto all fours as tails began to form from the overflow of chakra flooding out of his body.

Konan slapped him with her wing with enough force to fling him against the wall. She was hoping to stun him long enough to get to Kitsune. Running to the baby's room, she picked up the sleeping child and nestled him against her chest.

"Mama!" Nariko screamed in fright from her room. The unbelievably loud snarling and growling coming from the next room had awakened her from her nap.

"Oh, Kami, no!" Konan shouted, a blast of chakra blowing her back against the wall. She was able to wrap her wings around Kitsune to protect him, but she had to get to Nariko. Running through the new doorway that had been blasted through the wall, she charged into Nariko's room to take her into her arms.

"Aunt Konan, what's going on?" the little girl sobbed, holding her around the neck tightly.

"Baby, close your eyes and no matter what you hear don't open them," she told the child, glancing behind her when the menacing growling seemed terribly close. She did not want the child to see her father like this since he was rapidly changing forms of Kurama as the chakra spilled out of him and made him gain power.

_"I told you I would you help you protect them," _the demon told Naruto as he began taking over.

"No! Not like this!" he yelled back within but he knew it was futile. His emotions were totally beyond his control and the demon was taking advantage of it.

Konan shielded the children and herself with her wings as another chakra blast was sent forth when Naruto rose in power to his six tailed form. She watched in horror and shock as he slammed his body through what remained of one of the walls reducing it to rubble like the rest of the house. Spreading her wings, she took off unimpeded since the roof had been blown away. She was taking Nariko to her grandparents because she could not leave her here with the emerging tailed beast. Seeing Tsunade in the crowd of villagers from her bird's-eye view, she flew down to give her the frantic, bawling child.

"What's going on?" Tsunade screamed over the cacophony of noise that included her squalling granddaughter and shouting of dazed people trying to understand what was happening. Daring to stop in the middle of the melee, she took Nariko from the woman who must be cause of all this somehow.

"I've done something reprehensible Lady Tsunade and I don't expect you to forgive me! None of you will forgive me!" she hollered over the noise before taking flight again.

"Konan, no! Kitsune!" she cried, feeling fingers tighten around her upper arm and drag her along. Following the arm up to the face with her eyes, she saw it was Jiraiya who had taken hold of her. "What's going on?"

Another deafening explosion sounded and Jiraiya turned to protect Nariko and Tsunade from the impact wave that followed. The force pushed them forward but his body absorbed most of the shock and he kept them from falling. Looking into her amber eyes that were just like their daughter's he told her, "Kurama's here."


	26. Chapter 26

There will be prolific use of this little fellow right here ~^..^~ to indicate shifts between the action and point of view of Reiki and Naruto. Although it might be a little annoying, I thought it would be the easiest and least confusing way to indicate these fast shifts rather than leaving it all together.

* * *

"It can't be," Iruka breathed staring up in disbelief at the gargantuan Nine Tails.

He was immediately transported back to that night many years ago when the Fox attacked the village. That was the night his parents died protecting him. His fingers traced the scar over the bridge of his nose that had been a permanent reminder of that terrible night. The scars that no one could see, the everlasting memory of the horror that had been planted in his mind, threatened to tear him apart and render him useless as a shinobi in the present. Pulling a kunei from its holder, he focused on the red eyes of the beast that was surveying all of the shinobi who were beginning to gather around him. He would at least put the damnable beasts eyes out so he would have to fight a little harder to kill them.

Kakashi glanced around him at the widespread destruction. Every building and structure for a mile radius had been flattened from the chakra discharges caused by Naruto's swift escalations in power. How did this happen? How did Kurama get control? He saw Iruka preparing to throw the kunei knives at the Fox and yelled at him. Noticing the man was beyond hearing and rational thought, he ran to him.

"No! It's still Naruto!" he bellowed noticing that the Fox had not freed himself completely from the man. He ran to Iruka, shaking him by the shoulders as if to bring him back to his senses. "If you hurt him, you hurt Naruto!"

Iruka blinked and shook his head, putting away the knives. This was becoming emotionally traumatizing for everyone. He and Kakashi both watched in disconcerted fascination as the beast roared with fury and proceeded to slam himself into the Hokage Monument carved into the mountainside. There was still some semblence of control and containment. It seemed Naruto was still trying to regain control, to bring himself down, but the demon would not relent.

"Reiki has been taken and so has Kitsune!" Tsunade yelled to them, holding the whimpering Nariko against her chest. She glimpsed the child's face to see her eyes were still tightly screwed shut. Keeping her back to the Fox, she waded through the eerily silent and ready multitude to stand next to them. The only sounds to be heard were the growling and grunting of the huge beast in their midst.

"That explains a lot," Kakashi muttered, wincing as the massive creature banged his head into the side of the mountain.

"That boy is going to kill himself trying to hurt that demon," Jiraiya murmured, watching with apprehension.

"No, no, no, NOOOO!" the Nine Tails' boomed in a man's voice: Naruto's voice. The Fox swung around, gazing at the village shinobi who had him surrounded.

_"Get out of here before they kill you, you fool!" _Kurama bellowed inside his pscyhe. _"Go! Find your wife and your son!"_

"What? What are you doing?" Naruto asked realizing he had at least partial control of the body he was in. It felt as if he had been turned inside out. Was this what it felt like to be the Nine Tails' who had been trapped inside of him all these years?

_"I'm doing what I promised. I'm helping you protect them. I've given you my full power but it's up to you to use it. Now, move you idiot!" _

The demon's voice bounced around the inside of his skull, and Naruto thought his head would explode. Opening his eyes, he studied the people he called friends and family readying themselves to attack him. Who could blame them? They thought Kurama was here to kill and destroy them all; to wreak havoc and bring annihilation to the village and their lives all over again. They did not know that he had control over the Fox's body. Pulling back his lip from his teeth, he lowered himself slightly to gather all of the strength he could into his back legs. With one large leap, he jumped over the people who were preparing to kill him and bounded out of the village. He had to find his family.

~^..^~

Reiki gradually came to consciousness keeping her eyes closed because it felt as if a bomb had gone off inside her head. Her body felt like a crushing weight had been placed on her and prevented her from moving. But there was nothing there. She was paralyzed. She could not even cry if she wanted to. Being unable to move did not keep her from feeling pain however. It was obvious she was lying on a hard, uneven surface and she could feel sharp edges poking her. Once she could move, she grabbed her head and rolled onto her side. Gritting her teeth against the physical agony of her throbbing head, she ever so slowly opened her eyes. Everything was a dark blur at first but eventually came into focus. She was in a small cavern that had been fitted with metal bars at the entrance to fashion a makeshift jail. The damp walls were dimly illuminated with a torch that burned in a holder beside the door to her cage.

"Where am I?" she whispered to herself. In the silence it sounded like a scream as it echoed off the stone walls. She pushed up on her hands to sit up before scooting closer to the bars in an attempt to look outside.

"You're safe...relatively," a deep voice informed her before a man stepped up to the bars where she could see him.

Reiki glared at the man with silver hair that was slicked back and dark purple eyes that glittered sinisterly in the torchlight. She did not say another word to him as he squatted down to stare at her eye to eye since she was sitting on the floor. Her eyes did not hold his cold, dead stare for long before moving down his face to his neck. There they studied the horizontal scar across his neck. It appeared as if he had been beheaded but his head had been sewed back on.

"This?" He pointed to the red line across his neck. "This is your husband's fault. He caused me to nearly be decapitated. That was very inconvenient to say the least."

"But how..." Her words trailed off and she left the question unasked. She did not understand how it was possible but that did not matter. It wouldn't change the fact he was still alive which was very inconvenient for her at this time. Her body jerked backwards when she felt his hand on her face. Scuttling on her hands and feet like a crab, she retreated out of his reach to press her body against the back wall of her cell.

"Hmph," he snorted, a sneer pulling his upper lip back from his perfect white teeth.

'For a man who should be dead he is in optimum form,' Reiki thought to herself, shuddering when he licked his lips while looking her over from head to toe. Watching him as he stood and disappeared back into the gloom behind him, she closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the cool rock wall. The cold and damp seemed to help her achy head but it made her body shiver. She had to be able to think. There had to be some way out of here. She could not just blindly smash through the wall and then not know where to go to get away from them.

"Oh, Naruto, where are you?" she moaned, rubbing her pounding temples. "How will you find me?"

~^..^~

Naruto stuck his new and sensitive fox nose in the air inhaling deeply. He was assaulted with a plethora of smells that he had never before in his life knew filled the air so pungently. Shaking his head from the sensory overload, he sneezed then raised his nose again taking a much more delicate sniff of the air. Turning in a circle while making subsequent shallow inhales he finally picked up on a faint familiar smell. Moving tentatively in the direction from which he thought he picked it up, he took a few more snuffles before he was sure he smelled her scent which was like cherry blossoms mixed with vanilla and baby powder. Damn she smelled good. Pulling in a deep breath of air, the intoxicating perfume of her filled his nose, and he lurched forward into a run. Occasionally he would test sniff the air to confirm he was still proceeding in the right direction to find her.

~^..^~

"Reiki," Konan called when she saw the woman huddled against the back of the small cave. She would kill those idiots if they had hurt her. Her fingers clutched the bars staring at the woman's still form, willing her to move - to say something.

Reiki could hear her but she was purposely dismissing her. She had no desire to speak to her. A small whimper then a sigh caught her attention and she opened her eyes.

"Kitsune," she breathed, her head snapping in the direction of the coo that answered her soft declaration of his name. Her eyes widened when Konan held the baby near the bars to show her that he was safe and sound. "My baby!"

Konan cast a quick eye around the cave wall searching for a key that might be there to open the door. Seeing none, she bit her lower lip and hesitated. Did she really want to go ask one of them for the key? Would they allow Reiki to have her baby?

A piercing scream rocketed through the cave as the baby began to cry. Kitsune was awake and had seen his mother when she crawled close to the bars. He was clutching her fingers of the hand that she had thrust through the bars to touch him. A red glow began to emanate from his body but it quickly disappeared when the seal cut off the chakra flow.

"I'm going to get the key, okay? I'll be right back," Konan assured her, desperately trying to comfort the upset child. He needed his mother and was letting her know it.

Reiki began to cry from the pain of her child's plaintive wails ripping at her heart. She grasped the bars of the cell so tightly her knuckles turned white and her joints began to ache. Experimentally, she pulled in opposing directions and the bars moved apart with a shriek of metal that set her teeth on edge.

"Konan, wait!" she yelled, hoping the woman could hear her over the grinding scream of the metal as she continued to pull. The muscles in her arms ached and they shook with the effort as she stretched the bars using all of her might until she could fit her head and shoulders through them. "Konan!"

"What?" the blue haired woman asked, startled to see half of Reiki's body between the bars when she came back around the corner. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Getting out of here. And you're going to help me," she said with confidence, dragging her legs through the separation of the bars.

"Are you so sure about that?" she inquired, tightening her grip on the screeching child.

"Oh, yes, I'm quite sure," she responded. Her golden eyes seemed to develop their own luminescence from the fire of anger that burned within her. "Give me my baby," she ordered in a threatening tone of voice, opening her arms for her child.

Konan was amazed how the baby quieted down immediately in his mother's arms, resorting to a low whimper to indicate he was still in need of something. She looked away when the woman began pulling her shirt apart because what the baby needed was food. Moving to the corner, she decided it was best she keep watch for any of the men returning to check on the prisoner. Pushing aside the guilt, her mind concentrated on formulating a way to get them out of here; that would be far more productive rather than resorting to wallowing in regret.

~^..^~

Almost there. The scent was so strong it was almost unbearable because he knew she was so close. Not only could he smell it, he could sense it from somewhere deep inside of him like he had honed in on her very life force. Kitsune was there as well which caused him to move faster to get there sooner. Time was something he could not spare. It could mean the difference between them living or dying.

Swinging his gigantic fox head from side to side, he searched for where she could possibly be. There seemed to be nothing here but trees. There was no where to hide except behind a tree in the dense forest he had been crashing through for what seemed hours. Lifting his head, he sniffed again and opened his sharp eyes wide to scan the landscape over the tops of the trees. In the distance he could see the entrance to a cave in the mountainside. That had to be it.

~^..^~

Reiki was just pulling her shirt back together when the ground swayed and moved beneath their feet, knocking her and Konan both onto their behinds. She swiftly rolled onto her knees, covering her baby with her body to protect him from the falling rocks as the ground continued to quake. Raising her head, her eyes met the questioning gray eyes of the woman sitting in front of her.

"He's here. And he's angry," she said with a sinister smile on her face.

"I really am sorry," Konan apologized without a hint of fear in her eyes. If she died, she would be getting what she deserved.

A roaring sound filled the cave blocking out any sound beside the monotonous thundering. Reiki noticed the piece of paper in the woman's hands that she was swiftly folding into something. She briefly saw the sharp pointed shape before it was hurled at her head. Rolling out of the way, she glared at her former friend who had been her enemy all the time. She did not notice the large rock that landed and smashed to bits on the ground where her head would have been. Standing to her feet, she grabbed the blue-haired woman by the throat with one hand, feeling the rough scabs beneath her fingers of what seemed to be claw wounds on her neck. Konan had put her entire family in danger, going as far as to kidnap her son, and that was simply unforgivable no matter what the reason.

~^..^~

Naruto continued to head butt the rocky mound despite the pain. Clawing at the earth of the entrance, he flung large amounts of it behind him as he tried to dig his way in before resorting to hammering the mountainside again to break it down. He did not care about abusing the Fox's body since it was his decision to take over and do this.

_"Take it easy, kid," _Kurama moaned. _"You're giving me a headache."_

"Then give me my body back, dammit! I can't fit through to get to her!" he yelled back at the Nine Tails.

Naruto suddenly found himself on the ground on fire. Slapping at the flames, it took a moment before he recognized he was fully engulfed in the powerful chakra that would occasionally erupt when he had made love to his wife. It had formed a full body chakra shroud that encompassed him from head to toe. A slight burning sensation over his entire body reminded him that there was actual heat to the energy despite it not being fire.

~^..^~

Reiki dropped Konan to the ground when the uneven rocky floor beneath her feet continued to shift and raise. She was afraid if she did not concentrate more on balancing herself she would drop Kitsune. An ear splitting sound like a high-pitched bell ringing echoed off the walls and felt as if it were puncturing her eardrums.

Konan grabbed her by the hand, pulling her toward the entrance through which she had come. It was the back entrance to the cave that only her and Nagato knew about. Whatever Naruto was doing to cause all of this, she knew the others would be busy trying to get rid of him. With the rocks raining down on them from above, it was only a matter of time before the whole cave system collapsed. She had to get Reiki and the baby out of here and to somewhere safe. It was the least she could do to pay for her treachery.

~^..^~

Naruto was using the Rasenshuriken to decimate the enemy. It was like being caught in a blender that was powered by air, cutting the enemy to shreds. They could not get close enough to him to even think about touching him or stopping his attack. He was done playing games with these assholes. They had pushed him too far by daring to attack his family. Whatever they wanted with them, he was not going to allow it to happen. As the body count rose and the victims fell around him, he decided it was best to switch tactics. It did not matter how they met their end just as long as they did. Wherever Reiki was, he was sure at this time she was safe and would be waiting for him. Ceasing all activity momentarily, he listened to the ominous silence that filled the cave. The rest of them were here somewhere. He did not know where they were hiding nor did he care. With what he was about to do, there would be no hiding place good enough to protect them.

~^..^~

Reiki and Konan were forced to the ground by the sheer brute power of Naruto's final attack. The women sat up to watch in horrified awe as the mountain shuddered and crumbled, disappearing into the ground that seemed to swallow it up like an insatiably hungry beast. A gigantic cloud of dust was thrust up into the air as if the earth had exhaled from the effort of gorging itself on the mountain. The ground stopped shaking and the booming sound like endlessly rolling thunder finally halted. There were no sounds at all. Not a single bird chirped in the trees nor did any animals, small or large, move in the forest around them.

Reiki held Kitsune to her chest, closing her eyes. She had to trust her heart to know that Naruto was alive and had not been consumed by his own power. Keeping her eyes closed tightly, she gently rocked the baby while humming his favorite lullaby. It was the only sound for miles around.

~^..^~

Naruto raised his head upon hearing the sweet notes of the familiar lullaby. He pushed himself to his knees, crawling despite the pain that ravaged his body. All he had to do was get to her and he would be all right. She would make it all right. Ignoring the agonizing discomfort of the burns that covered his body, he stood up on his feet. He would walk away from this like a man.

~^..^~

Reiki ignored the fear and desperation that welled within her, threatening to overtake her senses and drive her into being a sobbing mess. Taking a deep breath, she continued to hum to her baby who was falling asleep with his ear pressed against her heart. She knew that her husband was out there, that he could hear her, and that he was coming to her. They would always be together. It was meant to be from the very beginning before they even knew it. He had to hurry. Her body was beginning to tremble, and she would soon fall apart. He needed to be here to pick up the pieces.

There a rustling noise in front of her. Reiki opened her eyes to see her exhausted husband fall at her feet. She could see burns ranging in severity from first to third degree on his face and arms. He looked battered and bruised but it was from his own doing. What he had done to himself to take out their enemy had not allowed them to lay a single finger on him and they were completely destroyed. She bit her lower lip to hold in the sob that wanted to escape as he crawled toward her. Her eyes fluttered closed as she raised her mouth to accept the kiss from his swollen, bright red lips.

"Honey, I'm home," he murmured, offering her a weak smile.

"Home is wherever we're together, right?" she sniffed, unable to stop the tears from sliding down her face.

"Right," he said, pressing his forehead to hers. "We have to get back to Nariko. She will be missing us."

Reiki cried out in anguish when he fell to his side next to her after losing consciousness. She lay the sleeping baby in the soft grass having nowhere else to put him. Pressing her hands to her husband's chest, she pushed the healing chakra from her body into his.

Konan sat nearby observing the whole thing with a hand covering her mouth although she doubted she would have been able to speak anyway. She did not know if she should run or try to help or what she should do. Instead she stayed completely still, keeping quiet while she watched the woman heal her husband. She very seriously doubted they even knew or cared that she existed at this point.

* * *

It's still not the end...


	27. Chapter 27

Gamabunta, the chronically grumpy chief toad, arrived in Konoha with very special cargo on his back. With what little power she had left, Reiki had summoned him to bring them home. For once he willingly gave his assistance considering the request made upon him. It was important to him to get them back to the village to ensure Naruto's survival and to reunite the family. However, he refused to tote the blue haired traitor and informed her she could make her own way back to Konoha. Before leaving, he advised her against returning to the scene of her betrayal.

"There will be many people there ready to draw your blood as soon as you walk through those gates," he had warned her.

"I'm willing to pay for my treachery," she responded with resignation.

"So be it," the Chief Toad returned with no concern either way. It was her choice to make. He had more important things to do. Leaving her alone in the forest, he had made his way to the village.

Kotetsu and Izumo immediately left their post to meet the gigantic toad at the entrance gates. They pulled the unconscious Naruto from the back of Gamabunta first. About the time Jiraiya and Tsunade arrived they had taken the half awake Reiki into their arms and was laying her on the ground. Sakura and Ino, who were both fully trained medical-nin at this time, rushed forward to begin treating the two injured people.

"Reiki, you're home. You're safe. Let Kitsune go," Sakura pleaded with the mother who kept a tight grip on the sleeping child.

"Baby, let me have him," Tsunade prompted her, carefully peeling away her daughter's arms. She gathered the child to her chest and watched her personal protege go to work on her daughter.

"Mama, Mama, Ma - " Nariko froze and dropped to her knees by her half-conscious mother.

"Oh, my heart, my sweet baby," Reiki mumbled, reaching out to touch her daughter on the cheek.

"Are you and Daddy going to be okay?" she asked, grabbing her mother's hand to hold it between her two small ones.

"Of course, sweetheart. We've got two of the best medical-nins in Konoha taking care of us," she assured the child, returning Sakura's smile.

"Reiki, we're about to take you to the hospital. You need rest now. Nariko, you can come by and see Mama later, okay? You help Gramma take good care of Kitsune," she told the child in hopes of calming her fears and giving her an important responsibility to take her mind off of worrying about her parents.

"Okay," the child returned, standing to her feet. She hugged her grandmother's legs as she watched her parents being toted off to the hospital.

Jiraiya stood by Gamabunta in silence as they waited for the crowd to disperse. He was in a hurry to get to the hospital to check on his daughter and her husband but there was something he needed to discuss with the toad first.

"Was _she_ there?" he inquired cryptically but the wise toad knew exactly who he meant.

"Yes," he answered bluntly. "I told her not to come back."

"Do you have any idea what happened to them?" he asked.

"He used a Tailed Beast Ball to destroy a whole mountain. He nearly killed himself. It almost took everything out of Reiki to heal him," he explained shortly and to the point. After gazing at Jiraiya whose white eyebrows were drawn together with worry, he said, "Don't worry so much. It doesn't suit you."

"My daughter and her husband almost dying doesn't suit me."

~...~

* * *

Reiki groaned and forced open one eye. She guessed it was early morning, just after dawn, from the jaundiced yellow light that illuminated the room. Pushing herself to a sitting position, she groaned from her muscles that ached throughout her body. Her arms were covered with many cuts and bruises ranging in sizes from 'ow' to 'holy hell that hurts.' She pressed her hand to her aching temple while looking around the room. Her parents were asleep in the bed next to hers along with their grandchildren who were snuggled to their grandfather's chest in blissful sleep. Her eyes roved over the bed on the other side of hers that was empty.

"Naruto?" she called, opening her other eye to get a full view of the room. She saw him standing at the window wearing nothing but his black pajama bottoms. Her eyes moved over his broad back taking into account each small mark and scar from years of fights and battles with friends and foes alike. There was a new scar: a large oval shaped burn on his right shoulder blade.

Standing up from her bed, Reiki silently made her way over to him. She could not help but giggle when he jumped from her unexpected touch. It was not often she was able to catch him off guard and sneak up on him. Pressing her lips to the scar, she slid her hands around his waist and pressed her palms flat against his tight muscled belly.

"What were thinking about so hard?" she queried, feeling the muscles tighten and release under her fingertips as he pulled in a deep breath of air. Laying her cheek against his spine, she leaned into him as he leaned forward to rest his head against the glass of the window.

"Thinking about what we're going to do. Come see it," Naruto said, peeling her hand from his belly and pulling her around him.

Reiki stood in front of him, grateful for his steadying presence behind her as she looked out over the village they called home. She gasped without meaning to as she gazed upon the destruction that had been wreaked upon Konoha. Buildings were flattened, piles of rubble lay everywhere, and smoke rose from smoldering black masses that were once homes or businesses.

"What happened?" she asked feeling his whole body tense against her back.

"I did this," Naruto mumbled, putting his arms around her when he felt her trembling.

"You? But how?" She pressed her fingers to her lips to keep from crying out in anguish and squeezed her eyes shut to block out the sight of the devastation.

"I became Kuruma. He took over my body," he whispered, nuzzling her neck. He pretended not to notice the goose bumps that rose up all over her body. Did the thought of him being the fox demon scare her...or disgust her?

"We'll rebuild it," Reiki murmured, placing her hands over his that were linked together at the fingers over her belly.

"How? It would be impossible," he muttered in a defeated tone with anger skimming the edges of his voice.

"It will take time and of course a lot of hard work," she said, turning in his arms to face him. She held his face between her hands, squeezing his cheeks like she did when he was much younger. He no longer had the round, childish cheeks of youth. His face was hard and angular from growing up and becoming a man. "How dare you mention the word impossible in my presence?"

Naruto could not help but smile at her as she pretended to be upset with him before allowing a slow smile to spread across her face. Impossible had never been in his vocabulary before so why should it be now?

"This from the boy who used to declare that he was going to be the hokage of this village someday. I'm so disappointed," she murmured in mock dejection, clicking her tongue at him.

"Oh? What can I do to cure your disappointment?" he asked, kissing her briefly on the lips.

"Be the man I always saw inside of you,"she whispered, sliding her hands down his neck to his chest. Tears sprang to her eyes as she looked into his sincere deep blue eyes. "Be the man you've become...the one I'm so proud of. I'm so happy you chose me. Thank you for making me the happiest woman in the world."

"I'm not done yet." His eyes gleamed mischieviously as he lowered his lips to hers for a longer, more passionate kiss.

"You promise?" she asked after he lifted his lips from hers.

Tracing the countour of her cheek and chin with his forefinger, he responded, "I promise."

~\..'../~

* * *

Hundreds of strangers, most being artisans such as carpenters and brickmakers looking for work, roamed the village as the rebuilding process began. Kakashi and Iruka had been tasked with forming patrol groups to go around the village day and night to make sure things stayed peaceful and safe with all of the outsiders coming in and out. Naruto spent most of his days at the Hokage's office with Tsunade assisting her with the task of hiring builders and approving plans to begin rebuilding the village. Reiki also had the feeling that her mother was getting ready to retire and hand the responsibility of taking care of the village over to him. Since their home had been completely leveled during Kuruma's rampage, they were living with her parents. All of them had agreed that their house would be the last one to be rebuilt once everyone else had received either a new home or repairs had been completed on their existing dwelling. None of them really minded the living arrangement.

Reiki had taken the children to the stream to escape the heat of the day as well as the jam packed village full of people that she did not know. There seemed to be more foreigners in Konoha than village residents. The whole prospect made her terribly nervous. After Konan's betrayal, she found it hard to trust anyone she did not know very well, and she shied away from making contact with any of the strangers. But she did not want to think about any of that at the moment. Sitting down by the edge of the stream, she situated Kitsune between her legs to hold onto him with one arm while she took off her sandals. She instructed Nariko to sit down beside her and take off her sandals as well.

"Mama, where did Aunt Konan go?" the child asked sweetly, clueless to her mother's abrupt change of mood at the mention of that name and the affectionate title attached to it.

"I don't know," she answered bluntly, holding her temper in check. There was no reason to get angry over an innocent question but she could not stop the surge of loathing that welled within her. It was a familiar reaction that occurred any time she had a random thought about the woman who had been her friend then nearly destroyed her family.

"Why did she try to hurt you and Daddy? Why did she take Kitsune? Why - "

"Baby, please..." She interrupted the child's incessant questions stopping her before her irritation grew to an uncontrollable level.

"Excuse me," a soft feminine voice called.

"Oh, Kami, what now?" Reiki mumbled, swiveling her head to look behind her while keeping a tight grip on the baby so he would not topple into the water as he splashed in it with his hands and feet. She sighed heavily upon seeing the girl she didn't know. This was what she came here to hide from. The girl stared at her with the biggest, brownest eyes she had ever seen. She could not help but notice how pretty the girl was with long straight black hair, ivory colored skin, and a gentle smile on her face. The girl wore a black choker around her neck and a light pink kimono. Despite, or maybe because of, how unassuming and friendly the girl looked, her aggravation only grew. "What do you want?" she demanded testily.

"I apologize for interrupting you and your family, but I was just searching for some herbs and heard you so I thought I would come say hello. I'm sorry I bothered you, Princess," she apologized, bowing deeply.

"How do you know who I am? I don't know you," she almost growled, pulling Kitsune away from the water and putting her arm around Nariko protectively.

"I mean you and your children no harm, Princess," she assured them.

Reiki found it incredibly unnerving for the girl to keep calling her by that title. Although more and more of the villagers were calling her that, as far as she knew the use of that title in regards to her had not gone beyond the borders of the village. However, things had changed.

"Everyone has heard of the Princess and the Fox of Konoha. Why there's even bedtime stories that are told to children," the stranger explained, bowing again as a show of respect.

"I'm not real royalty. It's only an honorary title given to my mother and she passed it to me," she informed the wanderer, wishing she would go away and leave them in peace. "Should I be glad our reputation precedes us?"

"I don't know. You tell me." The girl boldly held her gaze but kept a kind expression in her eyes. "I would like to meet your husband if possible."

_I bet you would like to meet my husband, _Reiki thought to herself. Her eyes moved over the girl from head to toe, taking in every inch of her thin small body. She was completely unaware of how mean distrust was making her. The green eyed monster of jealousy reared it's ugly head and made her see red. "Can you just go away and leave my family in peace? We already have enough troubles without - " She immediately halted her words before she could say something really hateful and rude.

"As you wish, Princess." The girl bowed again with reverence before turning away to leave.

Reiki instantly felt remorse prick her heart but she remembered what happened the last time she allowed that emotion to get the best of her. A vision of the blue haired woman she had called friend flashed through her mind and she gritted her teeth. She was determined she would not call out to the stranger for any reason whatsoever. Her eyes stayed on the girl's slender back as she reminded herself she was only watching her go to make sure she and her children would be safe. She could breathe a sigh of relief once the stranger was gone.

"Wait!" she heard herself calling after the girl as if someone else were using her body to do it. "What's your name?"

Reiki stared as the girl looked back over her shoulder and answered in her soft, sweet voice,"My name is Haku."

* * *

Yes, I know the appearance of this character is way out of the proper place from the timeline but I don't care especially since I haven't really followed it anyway. I find this character endlessly fascinating not only in his androgynous and gorgeous appearance but also for his fierce loyalty and superior fighting skills so I wanted to include him. Will I keep the character a girl in this fic? Who knows? Guess you'll have to keep reading to find out. :D


	28. Chapter 28

Naruto glared at his wife, ignoring the pretty girl standing beside her as they stood in the Hokage's office talking to her mother. What the hell was wrong with her? Had she already forgotten what had happened the last time she brought home a stray human? It had only been a few months so surely she remembered how painful Konan's betrayal had been. He had noticed she had become somewhat antisocial, choosing to stay mainly with her friends if she did go out of the house and avoiding the village visitors at all costs. That actually seemed to be a good thing so he had kept his mouth shut about it. He pressed his lips together and crossed his arms over his chest while turning his attention to the petite girl with lustrous black hair. The big brown eyes turned his way and he was taken aback momentarily when the girl made eye contact with him and bowed. Without thinking, he returned the bow before hastily straightening back up and clearing his throat.

The girl...what the hell was her name? Haku? That sounded right. Naruto narrowed his eyes with suspicion daring to openly stare at the girl who was silently gazing at him as well. Something about her was captivating. She was definitely not as feminine as Konan. Her chest was flat and she did not have the womanly body anything close to that of his wife. However, there was a distinct delicateness to that face that even Reiki did not possess. His wife was lovely, and he still thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen but something in those dark eyes and the fragile features of the newcomer mesmerized him. Shaking his head, he stopped the thoughts he knew would come before they even started. He had learned the dangers of allowing his mind to wander too far unattended after the disaster with Konan. Lust had clouded his thinking and blinded him to her treachery. He would not make the same mistake twice.

"Naruto? Is it okay if Haku stays with us?" Reiki inquired, laying her hand on the shorter female's arm protectively.

_Honestly, that damn woman..._ He sighed noisily with aggravation and glanced at his mother-in-law hoping she would help. Seeing Tsunade put her hands on her hips and raise a light blond eyebrow, he immediately knew he would not be finding an ally there. Damn women. They always stick together. It wasn't fair. "Ask your mother, she's the Hokage," he suggested, proud of his burst of brilliance. "It's her house."

"Well, I, uh...um, I..." Tsunade faltered, throwing her son-in-law a glare of open hostility.

Naruto smiled despite the hateful look that had been flung his way. For once he received the unspoken message loud and clear: _thanks a lot for nothing._ Apparently, it had been his duty to say no and be the bad guy. Feeling quite satisfied and happy with himself, he went back to studying the plans they had just received that morning for the new houses. Suddenly he remembered a man he had met many years ago: Tazuna the master bridge builder from the Land of the Waves. They weren't building bridges but as he recalled that man fantastic plans for any kind of structure including houses.

"Where are you going?" Reiki asked him, grabbing her husband's arm to keep him from walking out of the door.

"I'm going to the Land of Waves. There's an old friend I need to look up. I think he could help us with rebuilding. I would like for him to build our house," he told her, kissing her briefly on the lips.

"Be careful," she told him, pulling him to her for a more intimate kiss despite having other people in the room. They did not have time for their usual type of farewell since he seemed intent on leaving at this very moment. "Who are you taking with you?"

"Choji and Shino. I want everyone else here to protect what I love," he said, pressing his palm against her cheek. After giving her an endearing but unromantic kiss on the forehead, he swiftly exited the room.

"My, this Tazuna must really be a special builder for him to go retrieve him personally," she murmured, resisting the temptation to pout. She hated the thought of him leaving but would not dare to try to stop him. With two small children, it was not possible for her to travel with him.

"He's the one who built the Great Naruto Bridge. Didn't you know that?" Tsunade asked, barely able to keep the 'duh' tone out of her voice.

"Oh, that's real?" Reiki blinked looking like a true brainless blonde for once in her life. "I thought Naruto was messing with me about that. I never believed him."

Tsunade groaned and rolled her eyes. However, she could understand how her daughter had not believed the boy considering what a dork he had once been. Thank Kami he grew out of that. She physically shuddered to think what Naruto would have been like had he not grown out of his fourteen year old personality. With a loud sigh she realized he would have been just like the man who she loved so much and still managed to annoy her so profoundly. Going toward the door herself, she offered a hurried explanation to her daughter.

"I'm going to the hot springs," she yelled over her shoulder before walking out of the door.

"To find Dad?" Reiki queried, poking her head into the hallway.

Tsunade chuckled. It was no surprise his daughter knew him so well. "Yes, to find your father."

"Why is he always my father when he does something stupid?"

"The same way Naruto will be your children's father when he has his moments!"

"Honestly," Reiki muttered, shaking her head. Glancing at her guest, she realized with embarrassment she had completely forgotten about the quiet girl being there. "I'm sorry. I hope we didn't make you uncomfortable."

"Not at all," Haku assured her, laying her small delicate hand on Reiki's forearm. "It's actually quite nice to see such a loving family interact."

Reiki did not miss the sadness that flashed through the girl's brown eyes. She wanted to ask a dozen questions but would not allow herself. She had already messed up by making a friendly gesture to the stranger in a moment of weakness. After years of enduring stifling loneliness, she just could not bear the sight of a friendless person. It was her one weakness and it had been her one downfall. She was hoping she had not made the same mistake twice.

"Would you mind showing me around the village?" Haku asked.

"Not at all. Although I must warn you there really isn't much to see. We had a - " Reiki paused unsure how to explain the demolished village. "We had a natural disaster come through recently and things are a mess. But come on, I'll show you what I can. You already discovered one of my favorite places at the stream."

Haku smiled and nodded shyly. Yes, and she had discovered the woman who she hoped would be her best friend. She had not lied when she told Reiki that she had heard stories about them. Most of it she dismissed as embellished folklore that might have started out as a real event, but she had been intrigued with the couple nonetheless. The Slug Princess who fell in love with the holder of the fox demon. It was quite an interesting love story of sorts that had become a fairytale that she had heard the old women tell to the young children at night by the fires in villages she had passed through. Sadness poked at her very soul so powerfully it made her heart twinge with anguish when she thought about how she had been shooed away if discovered eavesdropping at their fireside story sessions. It seemed to be her lot in life that no one wanted her. Looking at the back of the beautiful woman in front of her and thinking about her handsome husband, she realized their legendary kindness and trust was one thing the old biddy storytellers had not exaggerated about. Reaching out to take Reiki's hand, she felt the woman stiffen and attempt to wrench herself free. The woman's golden eyes fixed themselves onto her face with such a hateful expression it made her want to reach for the kunei hidden beneath her kimono.

"Who hurt you?" Haku questioned her bluntly, stepping forward to push a stray strand of white blond hair out of the woman's face.

"You know, I really wish I hadn't talked to you," Reiki muttered so low and menacingly it almost sounded like a growl. She felt threatened by the boldness of the newcomer. How dare she ask such a personal and evocative question.

"Tell me, please. I want to be your friend," she said, refusing to let go of the hand that tried to pull out of hers. She knew how this woman felt; to be betrayed by someone who was supposed to love her the most. She had been betrayed too.

"Yeah, I bet. I'm just not sure if I'm ready for another friend right now," the amber eyed woman shot back venomously, giving up trying to release her hand from the grip of the determined dark-haired female. "I met my last so-called friend at the very same spot in the exact same way I met you. It's almost painfully ironic."

"Is it ironic? Or is it just painful?" the soft voiced visitor challenged her.

Reiki stared into the kind brown eyes as if searching for any hint of possible deceit. She did not have that same creeping feeling she had experienced with Konan. She had chosen to ignore that and it had nearly caused her to lose her family and her own life. The same mistake could not be made twice and she did not trust her instincts or rather her ability to follow them. Perhaps she was just a bad judge of character and should walk away now without looking back at the stranger who had pulled on her heartstrings. It might be better if she dismissed it as a weak moment and forgot about the sweet-faced visitor staring at her.

"What do you want from me?" She sniffed, trying to hold the tears at bay. She had not cried once to mourn the loss of Konan. There was still the nagging grief over the woman's duplicity and being used for ulterior motives.

"I want to be your friend. I want to help you. That's all," Haku assured her, hoping to break through her emotional barrier just a bit. In an attempt to gain her confidence, she decided to tell Reiki about her most painful betrayals. "My mother was killed by my father because of her special ability to manipulate water. He would have murdered me too if I had not struck him down first."

"Oh, Kami, Haku, I'm sorry," Reiki whispered, tears streaming from her eyes. Suddenly Konan's ambivalence did not seem quite as harsh but only by a fraction.

"After that, I met a man who took care of me. I loved Zabuza with everything inside of me. I would have given my life for him and almost did. However, it was him who tried to take my life to protect himself from his enemy," she explained, watching the other woman's face crumble with sadness. A few random tears rolled down her cheeks as well when the blonde put her arms around her. Everything she had told her was true. Nothing had been made up to manipulate Reiki's emotions or to sway her to trust her. She was sincere in her desire to be the woman's friend. That was why she had come here after all. If only she could be accepted and loved, even for a short while, it would make life worth living again.

"I'm so sorry all of that had to happen to you," Reiki said, hugging the girl tightly.

"Now, tell me what happened to you," she urged her, using the hem of her kimono to wipe the tears from the empathetic woman's face.

"It doesn't seem quite so bad now that I've heard your story," she admitted, feeling her face heat up with a blush.

"Tell me anyway."

~...~

"There she goes again," Shizune sighed, handing Temari a cup of steaming tea as they watched Reiki walk past the tea shop which was one of the few undamaged businesses. "Bringing home another helpless, hapless, hurting human."

"Why can't she just bring home a damn dog or cat like everyone else?" Temari asked, sipping her tea and patting her round five months pregnant belly.

"I don't know. I thought her kindness was just an act when she first came here, but she really is that nice. It kind of makes me sick still," Sakura added, burying her nose in the fragrant aroma of her coveted rose tea.

All three women laughed at that considering what bitter rivals the women were once. Ino sat silently without saying a word. That was incredibly unusual for her.

"What's your problem, Ino?" Sakura asked less than sympathetically.

Ino took a dainty sip of her tea then swallowed with great effort as if she had just imbibed a porcupine. "I think Choji is cheating on me."

The trio burst into a loud lauging fit. Sakura put up her hand to quiet the other two when she noticed the tears in Ino's blue eyes. "Wait...you're serious?"

"Well, yeah," she snuffled, using her napkin to wipe away the tears that leaked from her eyes. "Why would I joke about something like that?"

"But with who?" Temari asked with gossipy interest.

Silverware and cups rattled as the other three women pushed forward to lean across the table to hear the answer.

"I don't know," she answered.

"Dammit, Ino, don't you even have an idea?" Sakura impatiently tapped on her fragile china tea cup with her long red nails. Today was her day off and she had painted them. Tsunade never allowed her to wear polish while on duty at the hospital because it was unsanitary.

"I do but..." Her words trailed off and her cheeks visually heated with a blush that turned them bright pink. Looking around, she made sure no one was listening in on their conversation. She put her hand up to her mouth and whispered, "I think it's Hinata."

"No!" Shizune gasped, gulping the rest of her tea.

"It can't be," Temari added with a snort of derision.

"There's no way," Sakura said, pouring herself another cup of tea from the pot.

"See!" Ino screeched irritably. "That's why I didn't want to tell you."

The other three were shocked into silence as the despondent blonde fled from the table and then the tea house, crying.

"Well, hell...does anyone else see what's going on here?" Sakura traced the rim of her cup with her finger as a grin spread across her face.

"Ino's pregnant and Choji's scared, I think," Shizune offered remembering how weird Iruka acted after he received the news she was pregnant.

"Really?" Temari asked skeptically. Shikamaru never had any adverse reactions any of the times she had gotten pregnant. Of course, if he did, life would be hell for him considering she had just gotten confirmation that child number four was on the way. Lazy ass ninja wasn't too lazy when it came to the bedroom.

"I'm sure that's what it is. We'll see in a few months," Sakura said, looking out into the town square to see Reiki sitting on the edge of the fountain by the stranger. It pissed her off how easily she made friends with any newcomer. "In the meantime, what do we do to save our sweet and naive Reiki from herself?"

~...~

Reiki lay in bed that night staring at the ceiling. Groaning in discomfort, she rolled onto her side to get off of her sore, bruised back. Haku had insisted on following her around like a lost puppy all day long which seemed fitting considering the girl's large round brown eyes did remind her of a dog's. It broke her heart how the girl seemed so lost and sad. She had requested several times for her guest to walk beside her; mostly because she was tired of her bumping into her back. Her thoughts turned to Naruto and suddenly she missed him so fiercely it brought tears to her eyes. Wanting to keep her pain private, she turned her face into the pillow to cry. She also did not want to disturb anyone in the house, particularly not the guest who had suffered so much heartbreak of her own.

There was a quiet knock on the door that forced her to hurriedly wipe away her tears. Without turning on a light, she made her way to the door, opening it only a small bit.

"Can I come in? I can't sleep," Haku whispered, pressing her fingertips against the door.

"Now is not really a good time. I was just - "

"Crying?" she interjected.

"How did you know?"

"Can I come in?"

Reiki groaned in frustration, lightly head butting the door. Giving in to the polite insistence, she opened the door a little further to allow the slight girl into the room. Closing the door behind her, she took a breath to calm her annoyance which was mostly with herself. She returned to the bed somewhat dismayed when Haku lay down in the bed next to her.

"Haku, I'm really tired," she said since she was not really in the mood for company. She even went as far as turning her back to her unexpected guest to give her a not so subtle hint.

"I won't stay long," the girl assured her. "I just wanted to express my gratefulness for your kindness and generosity."

Reiki gasped in surprise when she felt a pair of small but powerful hands on her back massaging the tender muscles. Opening her mouth to protest, she closed it again as the soreness began to subside from her aching back. Instead of requesting Haku to leave, she moaned her approval of the fingertips that dug in a little deeper which made it feel even better.

"Thank you, Princess for letting me stay," she whispered, continuing to knead the tense muscles.

"You can call me Reiki you know," she mumbled almost incoherently. It seemed every muscle in her body had turned to jelly under the touch of her impromptu masseus.

"Just go to sleep," Haku whispered in her ear. She brushed her lips across the cheek of her compassionate and tender hearted benefactor in a gesture of affection and friendship.

Reiki was too drowsy to notice and drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

~^..^~

Naruto slowly walked across the bridge Tazuna had named "The Great Naruto Bridge" to thank him for protecting the builders and making the bridge possible. The bridge connected the Land of Waves to the mainland which had enabled it to become a prosperous, thriving land. He entered the gates and was immediately greeted by several people. Although he did not know them, they definitely knew him.

"Hey! Naruto!" a voice carried over the small crowd that had gathered. A boy of about fourteen years of age pushed his way to the front. He had black shaggy hair and black eyes.

"Inari!" Naruto called back upon seeing the boy who had only been a small child the last time he saw him. He could not believe that many years had passed.

"Were you looking for Grandpa?" Inari asked, taking him by the wrist and dismissing the fawning people with a wave of his hand to get them to move.

"I sure am. I have a favor to ask the two of you," he admitted, thankful to be getting away from the crowd. Glancing behind him, he saw Choji and Shino were still following at a distance.

"Anything for you," the boy assured him, stopping in front of a familiar dwelling.

Naruto smiled. At least it looked the same. He was still amazed by the change in appearance of the boy standing beside him. Before he could say anything else, Tazuna appeared. Despite being an old man years ago with shaggy gray hair covering his head and face as well in the form of a neatly trimmed beard and moustache, he had not seemed to age one day.

"I can't believe it! Naruto Uzumaki!" the man bellowed, giving him a warm, welcoming embrace. "What brings you here?"

"I need help rebuilding my village," he informed him forthrightly. " My house was one of the many destroyed. Once everything else is rebuilt, I would be honored if you would help build it personally."

"Trust me, the honor would be mine. Naming that bridge after you was really not enough considering what that bridge has meant for our land. Come in, come in," he invited, waving the three guests inside. "We should eat then you can rest. Tomorrow we can begin going over plans."

Naruto would rather begin going over plans today and leave tomorrow. He was in a hurry to get back home to his wife. He also wanted to make sure that the stranger who had found his wife was not another spy sent to infiltrate their village. His wife was still far too trusting and was a sucker for any sob story anyone dared to lay on her. Becoming a mother had made her far too empathetic and kind hearted it seemed. He only hoped it would not bring them anymore trouble. Through the years he had managed to become a bit cynical and was not nearly as trusting as he once would have been. Turning his thoughts back to the task at hand, he accepted the steaming cup of tea from his enthusiastic host.

"Can we look at some blueprints today?" he inquired, trying not to be rude.

"Sure if you really want to," Tazuna said, nodding to Inari. "What's the rush?"

"I have a wife and family now," he answered quickly, sipping at the hot liquid.

"Ah, I see," he responded, leaning back to say something to Inari. "Bring that plan I've been saving for someone special."

"Okay, Grandpa!" the boy responded.

"Have I got the perfect house for you," Tazuna informed Naruto with a joyful gleam in his dark gray eyes.

Naruto smiled. His family deserved something truly amazing, and he knew this man would be the one who could give them that. Watching Tazuna pouring the tea with irritating deliberateness, he struggled to maintain his patience. He wanted - no, he _needed_ to get back home to his wife and children. His mind wandered to thoughts of the beautiful stranger he had left at home with his family. Could Haku be as innocent and unassuming as she appeared? It seemed like every stranger who entered the village and was drawn to Reiki held a shocking secret. What could Haku's terrible secret be?

~^..^~

* * *

Reiki lay in bed that night thinking about her husband. He had been gone for three days so far. Her brain calculated time and traveling distance, taking into account time for things such as eating and resting to formulate when he would be home. With any luck, he would be home by tomorrow. She was thankful for the distraction of her children and the polite and somewhat mysterious guest who had been keeping her busy. Haku stayed right by her side tending to her every need, and she greatly appreciated the young woman's thoughtfulness.

The bed shifted ever so slightly beside her, but she did not react thinking Nariko had climbed into the bed with her which she was prone to do during her father's frequent absences since the beginning of the rebuilding effort. Rolling over, she was shocked to come eye to eye with a set of massive brown eyes. Her scream was muffled by the small hand that covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Haku apologized in a rush. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"Haku! What the hell are you doing?" she hissed, pulling the sheet up to her mouth to muffle the giggle that bubbled out. It had to be a nervous reaction from the surprise and awkwardness of the whole situation she suddenly found herself in.

"I knew you were awake so I just wanted to come in and be with you," she explained, edging closer to her unlikely bedmate of choice.

"What are you doing?" her stunned companion whispered feeling a gentle hand gliding over her belly. She tried to free herself from the thin arm that had encircled her waist. "You're disturbingly strong you know that?"

"I do," her new friend returned, pressing her body against Reiki's.

"Stop that! You're making a strange situation just plain weird," she warned, moving back a little. That was when she came to the astounding realization that Haku was naked.

"There's something I need to tell you. It's obvious you have trust issues so there's something I want you to know before any more time passes and our friendship goes any further." Haku took the other woman's hand and pressed it against her chest.

"Haku! Stop! What the hell are you doing?" she repeated in a frantic whisper as the woman held her hand against her chest which had no recognizable breast tissue whatsoever. There was a nipple that was hard and erect beneath her fingertips but nothing else that comprised a breast. Confusion muddled her mind, and she was unable to comprehend what that could mean. Her eyes stayed on the brown eyes gazing into hers as her hand was slid down the thin but muscular body that always stayed hidden beneath a long kimono. "Why are you doing this?"

"You have to know the truth," Haku whispered back, watching the amber eyes widen with shock and surprise as _he _wrapped her fingers around the proof of his true gender. He had laid in bed for hours, unable to sleep and tortured with the thought of losing his new friend or worse. He had decided he could not let her go on thinking he was a girl any longer. Living as both a male and a female, he had switched genders within obvious boundaries as needed by the circumstances. The last time he had tried to hide his sexual identity, when the truth was found out accidentally it had not ended well for him.

Reiki opened her mouth to speak but the words would not come as the knowledge hit her brain like a bomb that the girl who had found her by the stream was actually a young man. She held the proof in her hand in hard, unmistakable detail. For the life of her, she could not make her hand let go, and she could not get her brain to function properly so her mouth could form the words she wanted to speak.

"Please don't be upset and don't be scared," Haku begged, having mercy on the astonished woman by removing her hand from his member. He was afraid if he left it there too much longer something else might happen that would give her another reason to hate him. Sliding his fingers through her hair, he pulled her close while giving her a gentle kiss on the lips. "Please let me stay with you. I want to belong to you...and Naruto. I can be anything you want me to be. I can be your friend. Or your lover," he said, kissing her again but a little more insistently as if to prove he could be a good lover. "I can be that for him too. Just don't make me leave you."

Reiki was almost to stunned to breathe. She was thankful for her autonomic nervous system because she was sure that was the only thing keeping her breathing at this time. It was still questionable if her heart would stop beating from the shock. Why did this have to happen to her? Fresh out of one bad situation, she managed to stumble into another one that was even more uncomfortable and ten times more bizarre.

"Is there a weakness within me? A flaw? Something that people can sense and makes me an easy target?" she inquired, looking into the dark eyes of the human conundrum holding her.

"What do you mean?" he asked, thoroughly confused.

"You could not have come along at worst possible time. I'm weak, I'm alone, and I'm hurting," she said, fighting back the tears that wanted to fall. Crying would only served to show her emotional fragility even more. "What do you want from me?"

"I've already told you. I just want to be your friend. To help you. To love you," he murmured, giving her another brief kiss on the lips.

"You're only upsetting me and hurting me. Please stop," she begged, pulling his hand away from her face. "I love my husband. I would never do anything to hurt him. That includes having sex with another..." Her words trailed off as she sat up to get a good look at the decidedly feminine male laying in the bed next to her. "Person."

"We don't have to have to sex. Can I at least sleep with you to hold you?" he asked, regretting the question when she moved out of the bed.

"Hell no! Get out!" she ordered in a loud voice on the verge of yelling. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Reiki turned away as he got out of the bed. She could hear him rustling around behind her and she hoped it was to put something on to cover his nakedness. Turning around before he had pulled the robe over his shoulders, she happened to catch a glimpse of deep scars across his back.

"What happened?" she asked, crossing her arms under her ample breasts as if showing him she was going to remain on guard. She just couldn't seem to stop herself from caring especially since she had seen the pain in her - his - eyes when he had told her about his past. Obviously there was a lot more to the story.

"Zabuza did it. He used a bamboo staff to punish me when he found out the truth of who I am...of what I am. I shamed him. Although no one else knew, _he_ knew the truth about me being a man. He said he still loved me so I did not leave him. But I paid dearly for that love," he explained, turning to look at her. "Maybe my deception is what made him so willing to sacrifice me."

_Or maybe he was just a selfish bastard who used you_, Reiki thought to herself but would not voice the words. She could feel her resistence melting away as he looked at her with those big brown eyes so full of sadness, openly displaying the anguish of his deep emotional wounds. Those eyes were more effective in eliciting a sympathetic emotional response from her than puppy dog eyes on an actual puppy. She took a step forward to go to him, to comfort him, but halted when he held up his hand.

"Go to bed. Take a night to get over the shock. In the morning if you want me to leave, I will go. I didn't want to hurt you...to cause you anymore pain. I just wanted you to know the truth as soon as possible," he said, tying the belt of his deep purple silk robe.

After watching him leave her room, Reiki felt the compulsion to punch a hole in the wall or knock out the glass in the windows with her fists. How did she get herself into this mess? Leaning against the wall and sliding down to the floor, she tried to think. What would she tell her husband? Hey, honey you know that girl I brought home? She's a guy! And he wouldn't mind taking us both on in bed. What the hell?! She knew that request had stemmed from a sick, desperate need for love but it had been alarming nonetheless.

"A man! She's a man? I held the proof in my hand," she groaned out loud to herself, staring at her palm. "Dammit! What the hell am I supposed to do?"


	29. Chapter 29

Reiki sat by the stream not feeling the frigid temperature of the water as it flowed around her feet and legs that she had plunged into the freezing liquid. She had wanted to feel something, anything, but her body was still numb. Thrusting her hand into the water, she scrubbed violently not caring if she scoured the skin right off. _How could she...he...dammit! How could he do that to me! _the voice inside her head screamed in fury. Leaning back on her hands, she closed her eyes and tried not to think. It didn't work. An image of the one person she had been thinking about too much over last few days formed in her head. The shaggy blond hair that he was letting grow out made him look more like his father each day. The loving blue eyes that would gaze at hers still caused her to have a physical reaction so potent it made butterflies take flight in her belly from the mere thought of him. Then another image formed of dark brown eyes that were so sad and so full of hurt. She wanted to throw up. Groaning and laying her arm over her eyes as if to hide from the sunshine that filtered through the trees, she placed her hand on her belly and willed the churning to stop before she did get sick. Something cold and wet touched her arm. Without moving her arm, she assumed it was only a splash of water from the stream where she kicked her feet. Then it happened again. And again. The damp coldness felt like little pinpricks all over her body. Curiosity prodded her to open her eyes. Little white specks fell from the sky and landed on her body in addition to the ground all around her. Sitting up swiftly, Reiki held out her hand with the palm up to watch the miniscule white dots collect before they instantly melted into water.

"Huh...what is this?" she murmured to herself holding out both hands to catch the fluffy ice. Jumping in surprise when a gentle, familiar, and at the moment unwelcome hand touched her shoulder, she did not turn around because she did not want to see the person that hand belonged to.

"It's called snow. It does this a lot where I come from," Haku explained, his voice still soft and girlish. "It's my way of apologizing. It's beautiful isn't it? It's like you...gorgeous and pure. Undefiled..."

"Last night not withstanding of course," she snapped, wiping her hands on her black obi pants that she was wearing. Her mother had finally convinced her to start dressing like her after all of these years. She glared at Haku: he was doing this, making this stuff, this snow fall so she did not want any part of it.

"I'm really sorry," he said, moving to stand beside her as she sat with her numb feet and legs in the stream. Standing in silence, he waited for her to look at him. When she did not, he continued speaking. "I'll leave if you want me to."

"I don't know how to handle this. I don't know what to do with how I feel," she admitted, concentrating on the white flakes as they fell into the water and disappeared. "How could you do that to me last night?"

"I wasn't thinking clearly. I was so afraid of losing you as a friend I did something so incredibly stupid. I didn't mean to - "

"Yeah, I know, but you did hurt me." Reiki swallowed hard after she took the words out of his mouth before turning her head to look at him. For the first time she was able to see him dressed as a male in loose brown pants and a dark green sleeveless kimono type shirt. His hair was pulled back in a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. He wore more clothes as a man than he did as a woman which she found perversely backwards. But then again, everything about Haku seemed perversely backwards...and endlessly confusing.

"I love my husband," she said, putting her hand on the ground between them as a subtle hint not to move any closer to her when he sat down next to her. "I will tell him what happened. I have to tell him. I don't know how he will react."

"Are you angry with me?" he asked, leaning toward her to put his arm around her when he saw her shivering.

"Stop the snow. I'm cold," she told him, pressing her hand against his shoulder and pushing him back. "Please don't touch me."

"You are angry with me," he mumbled, scooting further away from her.

Reiki resisted the compulsion to scream 'well, duh, dumbass' at him. She rubbed her hands over her arms in an attempt to warm herself. It was debatable if the cold she felt came from within due to her feelings or from without due to the snow. Standing to her feet, she turned to leave.

"Please, don't leave me," he begged, staring at her back that was too straight with the tension she carried. "Can't we - can't we figure this out somehow? I can't change what happened."

"Neither can I!" she screamed, whirling around to glare at him angrily. "I feel so guilty I can't stand it! I touched another man in a very sexual manner by no choice of my own! I'm so mad at you I want to kill you!"

Haku stood up and lunged at her as if he was going to attack her. Reiki blocked her face with one arm while punching out with the other to deliver a forceful roundhouse to his jaw. Following through with her elbow, she caught him again in the temple causing him to stumble sideways with a dazed expression on his pretty face. Without asking questions, such as what the hell he thought he was doing, she stood with her hands up defensively if he came at her again. After several minutes of staring at each other in a tense silence, she dropped her hands and shook her head.

"I'm not going to fight you," Reiki muttered, holding her arms by her sides.

"I don't want you to fight me. I want you to kill me," he said, his mouth tilting into a lopsided grin. "Come on. Play with me."

Reiki felt heat creeping up her neck and covering her face as anger and embarrassment overtook her all at once. She did not appreciate the double meaning of that statement or the devilish expression on his face before saying it. Pounding the ground in front of her with her fists, she released her anger and a discharge of chakra into the ground. Since it did not have far to go to reach him, the force of it raised him into the air amid the shower of dirt and grass before depositing him in a painful heap in the hole the exit made.

"Bastard," she growled, angry beyond reason at this point. Rational thought had fled and seeking revenge for the tarnishing of her honor had taken its place.

"That's it. Come on," he taunted her, springing to his feet after pushing off with his hands from the ground.

Reiki gladly granted his request by coming at him with her palms up. When she got her hands on him she planned to infuse his body with enough chakra it would cook his insides. If only she had not been so shocked last night, she would have had a weenie roast then. Instead of making contact with him, she found herself crashing into the ground as he pushed her down with a gentle hand pressed against the back of her neck. How the hell did that happen? Flipping over onto her back, she caught his feet between her legs when he stepped between them and twisted before rolling to the side to drag him to ground with her.

"Dammit!" he yelled, after merging with the grassy forest floor in the most painful of ways.

"You wanted to fight me so come on! Don't go easy on me because I'm a girl!" she shrieked at him like mad harpy.

Without a word, Haku seized her by the shoulders and pushed her over onto her back. Straddling her chest below her breasts, he once again had her in a discomforting and incredibly compromising position. His thighs tightened around her ribcage and constricted her lungs.

"You freakish little - " A loud squeak escaped her when he completely cut off her ability to breathe.

"I'm amazed. You can be just as cruel as you are kind," he stated calmly, relaxing his grip on her body with his legs so she could breathe. "Would you like to stop now?"

Reiki smiled before placing her feet on the ground and raising her hips to buck him off of her. She climbed on top of him this time, pressing her knee securely against his man parts and bearing down with all of her weight. By Kami if she was going to touch him again it was not going to be with her hand, and she was going to make the shot count. She would teach him a lesson he would not soon forget and hopefully the pain would carry on for days to remind him of how much he deserved it.

"Oh, damn it to hell!" he screamed sounding like his female self again.

"Now, think carefully next time before you act," she muttered, rolling off of him to lay next to him in the grass. She ignored the panting and wheezing mixed with the occasional whimper coming from the man beside her. With a sense of deep, and somewhat sick, satisfaction, she sighed audibly to voice her contentment.

"Happy?" Haku groaned.

"Almost," she murmured with a smile. "You still have Naruto to deal with."

"Oh, dammit, you're a mean, mean woman," he whined, still holding his hands between his legs as if there was anything he could do to stop his physical misery.

"And you're a stupid, stupid man," she rejoined venomously.

"Point taken."

~...~

Reiki stood in the shower allowing the hot water to flow over her body in an attempt to work the soreness out of her muscles. A cruel grin twisted her lips when she thought about the sight of Haku sitting in the bed with an ice pack held between his legs. She was still not done being angry with him. A hand covered her breast and squeezed causing her to scream in fright before she turned to unleash her fury on her molester.

"Honey, it's just me!" Naruto yelled, covering his face with one hand and his crotch with the other to deflect her simultaneous attacks. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Naruto," she gasped, throwing her arms around his neck not caring that she was getting him soaked. He did not seem to mind either.

"Miss me?" he asked, pulling her face back to look at her. He could see she was about to cry because her eyes were bloodshot and her bottom lip trembled just like Nariko's before she would unleash a loud wail. She had already screamed and nearly blown his eardrums, he hoped she was not about to do it again. The need to breathe made him pull her arms from around his neck. He felt his dream that he would return home without some kind of trauma occuring during his absence drift away with heart wrenching clarity. "What happened?"

Reiki began to shiver despite the hot water beating against her back. Biting her lower lip, she stared at her feet wishing she could disappear. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to tell him the plain, ugly truth of what happened with the beautiful girl who was really a man.

~...~

"WHAT?!"

Haku heard Naruto screech, the man's voice cracking from the sheer volume of his declaration. If he could have got up to get the hell out of the house, he would have. Due to his damaged genitalia it hurt too much to move much less run. Closing his eyes to meditate, he lay on the bed and waited for whatever punishment was coming to him.

~...~

Reiki wrapped a towel around her body and followed her husband out of the bathroom.

"Would you get back in there? We have guests," he informed her, turning abruptly to push her back into the bathroom.

"Really? Who?" she asked about the time the guests made themselves known by appearing at the end of the hallway.

"Naruto?" the older man called, his crinkled tanned face blushing brilliantly.

"Oh, wow, she's amazing," Inari gasped, his dark eyes widening and giving him an owl like appearance.

It wasn't the first time she had appeared in front of a teenage boy in a towel but the last time that happened, she married him. Reiki turned Naruto to face them and block her body from their view by hiding behind him. She hurried across the hall to their bedroom, slamming the door behind her to signal that she was gone.

"Well, Naruto, thank you for the, uh...um..." Tazuna cleared his throat. "I do believe that's the most stimulating welcome I've ever had."

Naruto covered his face with his hands shaking his head. His poor wife. He loved her so dearly yet she had a talent for getting herself into the most graceless and humiliating predicaments. Hiding the lecherous grin on his face, he thought to himself that he would take care of her later. Glancing at the door of the bedroom next to him where Haku had taken refuge, he pressed his lips together to hold back his anger that bubbled and threatend to overflow. He decided that issue would have to be taken care of later as well. In the meantime, there were two new guests in the house to deal with.

~...~

Reiki sat at the table glued to Naruto's side sitting as far away from Haku as possible. The enamored teenaged guest moved his eyes from her to the crossdresser sitting beside her. It was as if Inari could not decide which one to have a crush on. Reiki could help him with that because she was married and the true identity of the 'girl' sitting next to her was that she was one his own kind. She was sure those fun facts would help him decide quickly that neither one was suitable as a love interest. His grandfather seemed mildly amused by everyone around the table and listened intently as the Hokage and her husband talked while the others remained silent. The two children seemed happily oblivious to all of the adults and carried on their own discussion with the older sister indulging in baby talk to communicate with her feral looking baby brother.

_What an interesting family,_Tazuna thought to himself, casting an approving glance at the blonde with the very different but obviously loving family.

"Reiki? Are you feeling well?" Lady Tsunade inquired, noticing her daughter had not touched a bite of her food.

"Not really. May I be excused?" she requested, standing up from her chair.

"We have guests, dear, can't you just - "

"Are you pregnant again?" her father butted in.

"Daddy!" she cried out as if she was not already enduring enough embarrassment.

"Well, Kitsune is about the same age Nariko was when you got pregnant with him," he explained in an attempt to justify the lurid question. "The timing would be just about right. Ow!"

Tsunade had a tight grip on her husband's thigh under the table. Her fingers slid further toward the inside of his thigh threateningly to keep him from saying anything more. One more, and she would pinch him hard enough to bruise him.

"If you're not feeling well, by all means go lie down," she told her daughter seeing the blatant discomfort on her face. She had no idea what was going on but it was apparent something was up. Judging by the actions of Naruto and Haku, they both knew something about it. Glaring at them suspiciously for a moment, she plastered a sweet smile on her face before turning her attention back to their guests. Whatever it was, those three would have to work it out amongst themselves.

~...~

Reiki was drifting off to sleep when her husband slipped into the bed next to her. She sighed from the comforting touch of his hand on her shoulder before it glided down her arm. Spreading her fingers, she smiled when he fit his between them.

"I talked to Haku," Naruto whispered in her ear, allowing his lips to graze her neck.

"Oh?" She was suddenly wide awake.

"I didn't have the heart to do anymore damage to him. You nearly separated him from what was left of his manhood anyway," he said, sounding as if he were about to burst out laughing.

"It's not funny,"she whined, elbowing him in the ribs hard enough to make him grunt.

"Oh, yes it is," he chortled, digging his fingers into her ribs to tickle her.

"Stop it!" she snapped, attempting to elbow him again but he moved away.

"No, I won't. Not until you laugh," he threatened, rolling her onto her back and straddling her waist. He dodged her slapping hands as he tickled her from her armpits down to her waist.

Reiki bucked and squealed finally giving in to the fits of giggles that wanted to be free. She gazed up at her husband who sat on top of her with a triumphant expression on his face. Her eyes met his as he slid his fingers down her cheek and along the line of her jaw to her chin.

"See. That wasn't so difficult," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her.

"You're not angry with me?" she asked, pressing her fingertips to his jaw to keep him from moving his lips too far from hers.

"No. I was incredibly pissed off with him. I wanted to kill him at first. As if it wasn't shocking enough she was a he then to find out how he broke the news to you...it made me want to break something else. You beat me to it though," he chuckled, giving her a reassuring peck on the lips.

"So what do we do?" Reiki slid her hands down his bare chest, pressing a kiss to his neck.

"Forgive him. He doesn't understand what real love is except for maybe the small dose he got from his mother. I believe that's why he's so fixated on you. He's drawn to your warmth and kindness. Too bad it wasn't the truth he used to frighten you away," he said, pushing apart her shirt to reveal her breasts. "He alienated you in a much more disturbing way like a big idiot."

"I've never had a man become a big idiot for me before," she returned with a glint in her golden eyes as they met his blue ones. Naruto might have been an idiot when he was younger, but he was her idiot. And my how things have changed. She slid her hands down to his abdomen, tracing the hard edges of each defined muscle with her fingers.

"Hmmm," he grunted, brushing his fingers over her nipples to feel them tighten into hard peaks from the tender touch.

The talking ceased as the touching grew more intense and the clothes came off. Naruto lay down on his back, lifting his wife to position her on top of him. Not only was he tired, he wanted to watch her as she bobbed up and down on him, basically using him as a human sex toy to pleasure herself. It was the one time being used was a wonderful thing and benefitted both parties. His hands busied themselves with stroking her breasts while she rode him with an unhurried, deliberate swaying motion of her hips. Emitting loud rhythmic groans, he was quieted by her cramming her nipple into his mouth. He had never been shut up in a more pleasing manner. Then it was her turn to moan with great volume. Pushing his fingers into her mouth to muffle her moans only served to excite him more as she hungrily sucked on them making slurping noises. Digging the fingers of his other hand into her hip, he held her down on top of him as he pushed up into her.

"Naruto," she gasped after removing his fingers from her mouth. She sat up, pulling him with her to hold his body tightly against hers.

Lips desperately sought a lover's kiss and tongues twisted together as they each struggled to make their partner climax first in a pleasurable battle to the finish. Holding each others intense gaze, they maintained the intimate eye contact until Reiki could no longer stand it. Closing her eyes, she raised her head as her mouth opened in a silent howl of ecstasy when her body shuddered and her hips thrust in jerky movements while she rode out the orgasm that rushed through her body.

"Your turn," she whispered, covering his mouth with hers to muffle his yelp of pleasure alerting her to his success in reaching the peak of bliss.

"I'm so glad you're mine and always will be," he whispered, enclosing her waist with his arms and holding her so tightly her breasts were being squeezed uncomfortably between their bodies.

"Me too," she murmured, kissing his forehead and circling his broad shoulders with her arms. "I'm yours always and forever."


	30. Chapter 30

Reiki had successfully avoided facing Haku and rehashing the whole embarrassing situation again for several weeks until he finally caught up with her at her favorite place to hide from the world. Sighing deeply to resist snarling when she heard him sneaking up behind her, she made a mental note that she would have to find a new place to get away from it all besides at the stream. It seemed she ran into the most inconvenient people and situations while here at this spot. It made her sad too because one of her fondest memories of her husband took place in the gently flowing waters of a small body of water such as this. That was probably why she loved this place so much.

"Do you mind if I sit beside you?" Haku inquired before daring to do so.

"Would it matter if I said no?" she retorted attempting not to sound too bitchy but failing miserably.

"Not really," he responded, sitting down after removing his sandals.

"I didn't think it would," she muttered, staring at his feet through the clear water to avoid looking at his face.

"Do all women hold on to grudges so fiercely or is it just you?" he boldly asked, kicking his feet slightly. "Why are you still so angry?"

Reiki decided to keep her mouth shut and actually allow her mind to consider that question. She had thought about that frequently lately and came to the conclusion it was not just him that was the source of her seemingly irrational rage. It was actually a culmination of many things. Her anger was caused in large part by Konan's actions; not just the betrayal of trust but her shocking cowardice as well. Then there was the irritating fact that her husband was constantly being dragged away from her for one reason or another usually through no fault of his own. It was always during these absences when her world was always pitched into a tailspin for one reason or another. Glancing at Haku's girlish face to see he was staring at her, she visibly winced as if he had physically touched her. He was dressed in a pink kimono today and had his hair down to look like a female. A human chameleon; who he wanted to be seemed to change on a day to day basis.

"You tell me something," she said, leaning toward him with such a piercing expression in her golden eyes he backed away from her. "What or who do you want to be?"

Haku blanched when she reached out to touch him on the cheek. Her touch seemed to penetrate and burn him to the core just like her eyes. He supposed this was what he deserved after asking her a difficult personal question. Getting too personal too fast had become a bad habit of his. He had gotten a little too personal right quick and in a hurry like a desperate fool and nearly lost her as a friend completely. Taking it as a valid question, he decided to avoid it but doubted she would let it pass so easily.

"I don't know. Who do you want me to be?" he questioned her in return hoping a redirect would distract her. Apparently he did not know her very well yet but it wasn't for lack of trying on his part. She had hidden from him for days on end and talking to her at the house was impossible with all of the other people in the household.

"For once in your life, _you _decide who you want to be. Don't let time or circumstance decide. And for Kami's sake, never allow another person to decide who you should be. You tell me, Haku," she demanded, actually glaring at him.

Haku swallowed hard, pondering the concept. He had never really thought much about it until now. His decisions had always been made for him before. Staring into her molten gold eyes, he could see she was not going to allow him to wiggle off the hook.

...

Zabuza watched the interaction going on below him fighting back the urge to vomit. That damn woman with her touchy-feely, 'what-about-you' thinking was ruining the years of work he had put into breaking that boy down. Too many years of training, honing Haku's skills and making him an emotionless warrior were about to be totally destroyed. Not to mention the loss of a somewhat pleasurable sex slave. He had finally found Haku after two long years of searching. He had been able to infiltrate and move freely about the village with the hundreds of strangers who were in and out of the place on a daily basis assisting with the reconstruction. It had been a disturbing revelation to see him with the family when he had finally discovered him in the quaint village of Konoha. Even more disconcerting was seeing Haku's affection for this woman and the jinchūriki of the village. It had been amusing at first since he thought it was a simple case of like kinds of freaks drawing together. After watching them for a few weeks, he was not so amused by the relationship any more. Haku had showed up just as he was about to drop from his hiding place up in the tree to kill the woman. The boy always had terrible timing. However, at least once his timing had been perfect: Zabuza had received the shocking news of Haku's true sexuality just in time to keep him from feeling any true emotion akin to love. That feeling something like love quickly turned to hate which he unleashed with a fury to turn his pupil into a merciless killer. If that woman only knew what kind of person Haku really was, she would not like him so much anymore. Perhaps it was time for her to find out. Rising from his crouching position on the branch, he decided to make his presence known to them.

Just as Zabuza about to drop to the ground, he saw the blonde husband enter the clearing. His lips pulled back from his sharp, pointed teeth as he grinned in sadistic glee. Perfect. He could kill them both at once. Stepping off the branch, his big body hit the ground without making a sound. However, he had the full attention of the three people immediately.

...

Reiki and Haku jumped up from the ground upon seeing the man appear as if he had fallen out of the sky. She gaped at the stranger while Haku moved in front of her to put his body between them. If she had not been so shocked by the stranger's appearance, she would have been amused with Haku's willingness to protect her although she was a whole head taller than him and had already bested him once. Her hands pressed against his shoulder blades, and she was surprised by the tenseness of his muscles and the sudden rise of chakra within his body.

"You know this man?" she asked, seeing his head nod. "Zabuza?"

"Yes," he answered curtly.

"Damn," she muttered, glowering at the huge brawny man with black spiky hair over an incredibly pale face with murderous brown eyes and animalistic teeth. She already considered him to be something less than human by the things that Haku had told her about him. After seeing him for herself, she was convinced he was not quite human.

Instantly, the light and warmth of the sun of the clear day was blocked by a thick fog that filled the area. It was so dense it enveloped them like a damp blanket, wetting their skin and making it difficult to breathe while totally blocking their vision.

Reiki instantly felt disoriented and kept her hands on Haku's back. Despite him being only inches in front of her, she could not see him. Fear gripped her heart because she did not know where her husband was located.

"Naruto!" she yelled, taking one hand off of Haku to reach into the palpable air in a futile search for her husband. He had not been standing close enough to her earlier for her touch, but she was hoping he had come closer after the sudden appearance of this blinding cloud of fog.

"Shhh! Don't talk!" Haku hissed at her. "Don't take your hands off of me either."

Reiki did as he said, moving her hands up to grip his shoulders. She glanced around in a desperate and pointless attempt to see. Her vision seemed to have been destroyed by the whiteness and everything seemed to sound so much louder. She could hear breathing and she was not sure if it was her own or someone else's. It was like being alone, trapped in a sight stealing white light. A hand touched her back and another quickly covered her mouth to keep her from screaming.

"It's me," Naruto whispered, pressing his body against her back. "Don't move."

The air was disturbed and the mist swirled around them as something moved. There was a distinct metallic hiss of a blade being drawn seconds before it sliced through the air.

Reiki felt a sharp pain in her side, just below her armpit. She reached over with her hand to touch the blade that pierced her body. Lurching forward as the dizziness threatened to drag her to the ground, she leaned heavily on Haku while her husband's arms went around her to keep her from falling. She grunted when the sword sank in deeper. Her ability to breathe seemed to have been stolen when the tip punctured her lung.

"Naruto, he's right there on your left side. Grab him," she wheezed breathlessly, feeling the blade being jerked roughly from her body. She fell to ground helplessly when both men reached for the other who had stabbed her.

Something within Haku broke in that moment. He heard it snap so clearly it was as if someone had stepped on a twig. He grabbed for the man through the dense air and came up empty handed. Listening closely, he could hear the excited, heavy breathing of his target shrouded in the gloomy haze. He soundlessly drew the tantō hidden within the folds of his kimono. Closing his eyes, he waited patiently for Zabuza to move first. He did not have to wait long before warm breath grazed across the back of his neck when the man's presence manifest itself behind him as if he was materializing out of the dank mist surrounding them. Dropping to his knees to avoid the strike, he pushed his short blade upward behind him. Unfortunately, he did not feel the satisfying and momentary opposition of flesh against sword indicating he had missed his intended target.

"Too slow. I'm sorely disappointed," Zabuza needled him, raising his sword in preparation to drive it through the skull of the man on his knees in front of him.

"I wasn't too slow," Haku growled. With his other hand, he had formed an ice spike and literally nailed the man's foot to the ground.

Naruto used the sound of their voices in front of him to get a fix on the location of the man in the blinding fog. Sensing the strong and deadly chakra coming from the man, he pinpointed him easily and stabbed his kunei between Zabuza's ribs through his back in an attempt to skewer his heart. He barely dodged the bloody blade that penetrated his victim's body as Haku ran him through from the front stabbing straight through their adversary's belly. Despite receiving what should be lethal wounds, the man escaped them, vanishing along with mist as if it was part of him.

The haze began to dissipate completely, revealing an unconscious Reiki on the ground. Naruto dropped to his knees beside her, gathering her into his arms.

"Sweetheart...Reiki," he called, shaking her gently. She was not waking up. Pressing his face against her cold cheek, he pled with her to open her eyes. It seemed like she was not breathing. "Baby, please, wake up."

"Let me have her," Haku ordered, attempting to pull her out of his arms.

"Don't you touch her!" he yelled, holding onto her more tightly and glaring at the other man hatefully. He was angry. That man had came here because of him. If his wife was dead...

"Lay her down or she'll die!" the normally soft voiced Haku shouted.

Naruto reluctantly lay Reiki on the ground between him and the other man. He watched as Haku lay his ear against her chest and listened before cautiously prodding her body to check the extent of her injuries.

Ignoring the intense glare of the husband sitting in front of him, Haku formed an icicle between his hands using the lingering moisture in the air from the dank mist. Zabuza had taught him many things that were meant for evil purposes. His extensive knowledge of the body and how it worked were going to be used for the good at this time. Holding the dangerously sharp point of the icicle against her chest, he carefully determined where it needed to be inserted.

"Wait!" Naruto exclaimed, seizing the other man's hands to stop him. "How do I know you're not going to kill her right in front me?" he asked, holding onto him.

"Don't be stupid. You know how much I care about her. If you don't let me go, she will die. Her lung is filling with blood because the sword penetrated it. She's drowning on her own blood. Let me do this. Trust me," he begged, staring into the blue eyes of the man who obviously still did not trust him implicitly. How could he blame him for that?

"Trust you? How do I - " Before he could complete his sentence, Naruto felt a downward thrust of his hands and heard a gush of air. He looked down to see blood bubble up from the new wound and run over his wife's chest to soak her shirt. "What did you do?"

Reiki sucked in air making a loud gasping sound which rendered a reply from Haku unnecessary. She turned onto her side and coughed up more blood. Gasping and wheezing, she held her hand over the weeping gouge on her chest that had enabled her lung to draw in air. Struggling to sit up, she was pulled against Naruto's chest in a crushing embrace.

"Get her to the hospital before she bleeds to death," Haku ordered him, standing up to walk away.

"She'll be fine. Don't worry. Where are you going?" Naruto queried, picking up his wife in a bridal carry while standing to his feet.

"I'm going to kill Zabuza. I won't give him the chance to come back and finish what he started."

...

Zabuza smiled, quite happy with himself, thinking he had gotten away to come back and kill them all another day. He had not intended to kill the woman; he only wanted to make the other two angry. But if she died so be it. At this moment, he almost felt pleased enough to start whistling a merry tune. However, that bastard blonde had punctured his lung instead of piercing his heart and the damage was making it difficult to breathe much less whistle. The poetic justice enraged him since he had collapsed one of the woman's lungs. At least his was still working to a much greater degree, and he was not in danger of dying while drowning in his own blood. Once he was a little further away, he would stop to tend to the two wounds inflicted upon him. They hurt like hell, and he was bleeding all over the place.

A flash of movement to his left alerted him that Haku was near. So he had come after all. The distinct sound of metal against metal made him pause in midstep just as the sensation of the cold blades against his neck caused his skin to tingle. Turning his eyes down without moving his head, he could see the shiny black hair on the top of Haku's head. He soon found it was a mistake to take a deep breath. His broad neck expanded a little too much and the excessively sharp blades that were crisscrossed against his adam's apple sliced through the skin with the precision of a medical-nin's scalpel. The ticklish sensation of blood dribbling down his neck brought goosebumps to the surface of his skin.

"I would say give me reason to kill you, but I already have too many to count. You just added one more reason to that long list today," Haku informed him without moving a muscle.

"You are still fast. You hesitated earlier. What the hell happened to you back there?" Zabuza questioned him directly, ignoring everything Haku had said.

Haku swallowed and pressed his lips together. He had no intention of answering that question. Earlier he had hesitated when the ghosts of the past invaded his memory and caused him to experience the agony of the emotional scars all over again. It had been years since he answered to this man. That was why he had run away from him to begin with; that and to save himself from being beaten to death or 'accidentally' killed during a training exercise. He had taken enough of the physical abuse. The emotional abuse was taking longer to get over, and he was sure he still had plenty of healing to do. The last two years had been spent running, always looking behind him. He had made the mistake of staying in Konoha too long. This had been the first place he had ever found a reason and an invitation to stay so he had taken it. After almost destroying that opportunity for himself, he was determined not to let a man who had already nearly succeeded in ruining his life take it away from him.

"You can't kill me? You can't do it can you?" Zabuza asked with derision in his voice. "After all I taught you...after all I trained you to be..."

Haku swallowed again refusing to feel the sting of the scorn and disappointment evident in the other man's tone. He tightened his grip on the handles of the swords. Gritting his teeth, he prepared himself to end this.

"You're pa - "

Before the man could finish the word pathetic, Haku closed his eyes and pulled down on the swords. There was very little resistance before muscle and bone were sliced asunder, freeing the man's head from his body. The muted thump of the relatively light weight of the man's head hitting the ground was immediately followed by the harder, louder sound of his big body contacting the earth. He turned away before opening his eyes. There was no reason to torture his senses further by looking at the mess he left behind. He was leaving it all behind - the damaged emotions, the agonizing memories, all of it - right here, in this moment.

~...~

Reiki was waiting in the hammock in the backyard. It was late, but she had not been able to sleep. A sharp pain cut through her side, making her twinge and groan. If she could sleep, she could heal herself faster. She had sent Naruto on to bed because he was exhausted from assisting Tazuna most of the day. There was no reason for both of them to wait for Haku's return, and sleep had forsaken her anyway. Barely audible footfalls in the grass met her ears causing her to sit up and look around. She smiled when she saw him casually strolling toward her. He appeared to be unhurt but maybe it was the moonlight playing tricks on her eyes. Holding her breath, her eyes fluttered closed when he bent to press a kiss to her forehead. She grasped the front of his kimono, gripping fistfuls of the soft material in her hands. Her heart raced when his lips lowered close to her ear which caused her injured lung to ache as she took shallow rapid breaths.

"I've found out who I want to be," he whispered, gripping her upper arms so firmly his fingers pressed into her flesh.

Reiki waited with bated breath, almost literally breathless with anticipation for what he was about to say.

"I want to be a man like your husband. And I want to find a woman like you," he murmured, touching her chin and tilting her head upward.

Her body trembled, and she opened her eyes to meet his. There was an expression deep within his eyes, like relief tinged with just a bit of regret, that was almost hidden by the happiness. She would not have detected the underlying emotion had she not seen it before in a pair eyes that are blue as the deepest part of the ocean.

"Since I can't have you, I want someone like you," he said, pressing his forehead to hers in an affectionate gesture.

Reiki breathed a sigh of relief that he did not try to kiss her. It was thrilling to hear he had learned the meaning of boundaries. She put her arms around him for a brief hug.

"Yeah, well, good luck finding her. I'm one of a kind," she joked, making them both laugh. "I don't have to ask what you've done. I've seen that look before."

"Do you know what it's like to kill something, someone, that once upon a time in your life you loved so much you would have died for them?" he queried, the sadness creeping back into his dark brown eyes.

"No," she answered truthfully, running her fingers through his smooth black hair in a comforting gesture like she reserved for her children. "But I know someone who does. You're more like him than you know."

Naruto coughed gently to garner their attention without frightening them. "I heard you two talking. I'm up for a talk if you are, Haku."

"I'd really like that. Thanks."


	31. Chapter 31

_One year later... _

The rebuilding of the village was nearly complete. Tazuna and Inari were set to begin the construction of Reiki and Naruto's home the next week. Haku still lived in the village, having a home of his own now thanks to Naruto and Tazuna's hard work. His transformation into a man had caused quite a stir at first and had once again made Reiki the topic of much gossip in the village. However, everyone soon lost interest when there was nothing more compelling going on between the two of them than the conjecture the villagers created themselves. He had yet to find a woman to fulfill his strict standards, but he had not given up on his search. In the meantime, he had decided to become one of the swordsmanship instructors at the academy after being asked by Iruka.

Today was the first day for the academy training to begin. It would be Nariko's first _official_ day of training. A big smile covered the child's face as she held the hands of her parents, skipping merrily between on the way to the training grounds where her teachers, Shikamaru and Kakashi waited for her along with all of the other new trainees. Occasionally she would glance behind her to make sure her other two favorite people besides her mom and dad were following. She smiled at her brother who was holding Haku's hand and sniffing the breeze while his ears twitched and his bushy fox tail swished behind him. It was kind of cool having a dog and a brother all wrapped into one. Mom and Dad would be angry if she dared to say so. Kitsune did not mind. He seemed to rather enjoy the extra attention it brought him, not only from her but from every person in the village.

"Mama! I smell something funny!" Kitsune howled as they arrived at the training ground.

"Well, sweetie, I'm sure you do. People are nervous and excited and there's so many of them. There's all kinds of interesting scents here. Just try not to get overwhelmed. Pull your shirt over your nose if you have to," Reiki patiently advised him. They had all become accustomed to dealing with the child's 'special' needs from his acute senses that he had been blessed or cursed with, depending on how one percieved it, thanks to the fox demon.

New students and their families filled the expansive training grounds making it look like a family festival rather than a school day. Ino stood next to Chōji proudly holding their four month old infant in her arms. The baby resembled a peach: plump and round, tannish pink skin, and a fuzzy white head. They had even named her Momoka which means peach for that reason. Sakura was beside her husband Rock Lee, assisting him with greeting his new students. She smiled happily as one of the children patted her big protruding belly that held their soon to be born child. Her smile broadened even more when the little dark haired girl told her she had patted her belly for good luck. Shizune and Iruka, the new adminstrators of the school, mingled among the numerous families, attempting to meet and greet each one. Temari had brought their brood, all five of them, including the newborn who was strapped to her chest with a sling. Kakashi had one of their daughter's in his arms and another of their male children attached to his leg. Strangely enough, he seemed content in his sudden state of surrogate parenting. Somehow he had not only managed to avoid having children, he had avoided the whole prospect of marriage. However, this did not surprise anyone. Shikamaru stood in a wide legged stance in front of all of them surveying the many milling people for his students. He had their oldest Shikamizu, a small look alike, clinging to his pants leg. The child was quiet and shy already, but it was worse today because he was nervous since it was his first day too.

"Your boyfriend is here," Haku informed Nariko playfully, knowing it would anger the feisty redhead.

"He's not my boyfriend," she groused, turning her head to poke out her tongue at him. Recovering rapidly, she smiled at the miniature Shikamaru peeking from behind his father's legs. Pulling her hands free from her parents, she ran toward him squealing, "Shikamizu!"

"Hmph!" her father snorted, watching with a smile as she departed without even looking back. "So it begins."

"Come on, Dad, it will be okay. You knew it would happen someday," Reiki teased, holding his hand and rising up on her toes to kiss his cheek.

"Yeah, but just not so soon," he muttered, studying the two children as Shikamaru positioned them to face each other. "Not wasting any time is he?"

"That is why she's here," she rejoined, observing the man as he patiently positioned their bodies into a fighting stance.

"She will be better than us you know," he said, reminding her of his father's prophecy. He winced when his daughter received the first hit from her partner. His hand tightened around his wife's when she lurched foward. "Don't. Just wait. Have faith in her."

Reiki smiled with the memory of having said those same words about him once. Have faith. She took a deep breath and backed up a step to stand beside him. In stunned amazement, she observed her daughter take a wide swing with her little fist which contacted the boy's jaw to send him reeling.

"I know where she gets that," Haku murmured, recalling suffering the wrath of many punches from her mother during sparring matches.

"Go, Riko!" Kitsune hollered, baring his sharp incisors when he smiled. "When do I get to play?"

"You get to kick the other kid's butts in a year and a half. Be patient," Naruto told his somewhat undomesticated son.

Reiki held her breath as Shikamizu lunged for his opponent but came up empty handed when the redhead skillfully dodged him before tripping him to send him to the ground face first. Seeing the blood covering his chin from his busted lip, her motherly instincts kicked in and she rushed forward. Her path was blocked by Shikamaru who held her back with an outstretched arm.

"Don't interfere," he ordered her with a warning tone.

"But he's injured. He's bleeding," she stated as if the man was blind. "He's just a child."

"He will have to learn to endure the pain and keep fighting through his injuries," the man coldly stated never removing his eyes from the children as they tangled up and hit the ground in a flurry of arms and legs. He turned his dark eyes to meet hers. "We all had to learn. If you can't handle watching this, please leave."

Reiki felt a hand on her shoulder, and she closed her mouth before she loosed a string of obscenities at the ruthless, heartless man. Her sensibilities as a fighter were gone because she had entered full mama mode. When he squeezed her shoulder, she turned to look into a pair of azure blue eyes that made her heart skip a beat.

"Come on. Why don't we go spar a little bit? Just the two of us," he suggested, giving her a wink. "It has been a while you know."

~^..^~

"Pull it out, I want to see it," Reiki begged, pulling him close.

"No. I don't want to," Naruto mumbled, pushing her away.

"Awww, honey, please," she pouted, rubbing her breasts that were still covered by her shirt against his bare chest. "Don't be a tease. It was you who suggested this after all. Please...I want to see it."

"Dammit," he muttered, kissing her briefly on the lips. He could no longer resist her insistent pleas; he would give her what she wanted. "You've got to promise not to hold back."

"Oh, trust me. I won't," she returned, excitedly moving back so he could fulfill her request.

Her body vibrated with anticipation as she waited for Naruto to transform into his nine tailed beast form. She had never seen him that way but she had heard her father talk about it often enough that it had stirred her curiosity. Due to the destruction of the village, she had never asked Naruto to show her that form until now. Enough time had passed that it should be perfectly fine if anyone should come across them. He had been working dilligently over the last year to master the transformation while remaining in complete control. At his own insistence, he had practiced far from the village with only her father there until he had accomplished just that. He never wanted to show that form to anyone unless necessary. Considering how his wife could be when denied something she wanted, Naruto knew the time had come to show her.

In a puff of smoke and a blast of wind, suddenly a giant fox with nine gigantic tails stood in front of her. Reiki was mesmerized by the huge animal who lowered his head to stare at her with his big red eyes - the eyes like her son's.

"Naruto," she gasped, reaching out to touch the red-orange fur of the animal in front of her. She giggled when he nuzzled her with his big, damp, black nose.

"Hold me if you can," he challenged her, turning to wrap one of his nine tails around her body.

"What are you doing?" she inquired when he unwound the tail and darted away.

"Having fun! Come get me...if you can," he taunted her in a half-human, gravelly voice.

Reiki took a deep breath, building up the chakra in her body. She pushed it out in the form of her whiplike weapons, creating three different strands from each palm. Using all of her concentration, she braided the strands into two thick ropes of pure chakra. With a flick of her wrists, she sent the weapons out to wrap around his two front paws.

"Whoa!" she screamed when she was jerked forward and dragged across the ground by her nine tailed husband.

"Come on! You can do better than that!" he yelled at her, kicking off the ropes. While freeing himself from the chakra strands, he accidentally kicked up the earth and sent a shower of dirt and grass over her.

"NARUTO!" she screeched, spitting out dirt and shaking it out of her platinum blond hair.

"Uh-oh," he muttered, increasing the speed of his casual gallop to a full out run. He had accidentally pissed her off and that never ended well for him, intentional or not.

Reiki formed individual links of chakra almost instantaneously into a long chain that she threw out toward him in a whiplike motion. She had been doing a little practicing of her own after consulting his mother about how she had contained the beast when it was within her. This time, one chain wrapped around his front paws and the other twisted around his back legs. Digging her feet into the ground, she pulled back to drag him down. The humungous fox hit the ground on his side and slid, snatching her from her tenuous foothold and flinging her through the air. Closing her eyes, she waited for her inevitable and agonizing crash landing. Soft fur encircled her bare waist, tickling her slightly. No longer did she feel herself flying through the air. Opening her eyes, she looked down to see her husband lying on the ground beneath her while he held her above him with one of his nine tails wrapped around her body.

"This is interesting," she murmured, staring at him in his half human/half fox form. Running her hands along the furry tail that circled her middle and was attached to him, a devilish grin tilted her lips. "I suppose this gives new meaning to the phrase getting a piece of tail, huh?"

Naruto started laughing so hard he accidentally dropped her right on top of him. After grunting in pain, he struggled to breathe from having the air knocked out of him by bearing the full weight of his wife's fall. Somehow he managed to begin chuckling again when he looked at her dirt streaked face and startled golden eyes.

"What? What is it?" he asked when she did not laugh and her expression remained serious.

"Do you think Kuruma would ever try to free himself from you? Like he did your mother?" she inquired, touching his whiskers that twitched under her fingers before flattening against his face to become the familiar marks again.

"No," he replied with conviction. "You already know there were extenuating circumstances there. My mother herself explained that to you. I would never let that happen. I'd kill myself first and take him with me before I allow him to destroy everything I love again."

"Naruto, please don't say such a thing," she mumbled, lowering her lips to his to make sure he did not say anything else.

"Ewwww!" Kitsune whined, surprising his parents.

"Are we interrupting something?" Haku inquired with a lecherous grin on his face.

Reiki made a noise of disgust which wiped the lascivious look right off of his face. Jumping to her feet, she attempted to brush the rest of the dirt from her clothes and hair. Somehow she managed to maintain a modicum of dignity despite her disheveled appearance and being caught in a romantic moment with her husband. At least they had been interrupted early enough that is was only a kiss.

"You're mother wants to talk to you. Both of you," he added, glancing at Naruto who had fully returned to his regular appearance.

"What about?" Naruto asked, reaching out to knock off some of the grass and dirt from his wife's back.

Reiki yelped when he slapped her on the behind hard enough that it stung a little bit. She glared at Haku as if daring him to offer a comment or give her a suggestive smile. Getting neither reaction, it unnerved her that he had suddenly gotten so serious.

"What is it?" she inquired, chewing on her bottom lip nervously.

Haku debated on whether he should tell her or not. He preferred leaving the job of breaking the possibly devastating and definitely shocking news to them to her mother. Taking a deep breath, he decided to give them a vague hint.

"Someone has arrived in the village," Haku announced, a grim expression on his face.

"Yeah, so? Hundreds of people come and go daily. What's so special about one person?" she inquired, pushing down the extreme anxiety that rose when he shook his head and his brow furrowed with trepidation.

"Come see," he stated in a low voice, turning in a silent signal for her to follow. "Naruto, be prepared to hold on to her when we get to the Hokage's office."

Who could it be? Reiki followed him, her stomach flip flopping with nervous anticipation and dread. She contemplated why he was being so cryptic and not telling her who had arrived or why it concerned her. Placing her hand over her belly, she tried to stop the antsy feeling that made her slightly queasy with it's intensity. Somewhere deep in her consciousness, she knew who had come back to the village. It was a reunion she had both waited for and hoped would never happen at the same time.

Reiki squeezed Naruto's hand when he knocked on the office door. She held onto him tightly as if trying to draw from his strength when her mother called for them to come in. Inhaling sharply when the door opened to reveal the mysterious visitor, she stared into a pair of gray eyes under long blue bangs. Her eyes moved quickly to the men standing on either side of her who held her in shackles on her wrists and ankles. She did not recognize them and judging by their worn, scarred, and hard bitten appearance they looked to be bounty hunters. Bounty hunters? She looked at her mother who was sitting at her desk with her hands folded beneath her chin and an angry expession on her face.

"Mom, what is this? Why is she here?" she questioned her mother.

"I hate it when the past comes back to haunt us unexpectedly," her mother replied with venom in her voice. Standing up, she walked around her desk to stand in front of the blue haired woman who was still staring at her daughter. She grabbed the woman's chin and roughly pulled her head to turn her gaze to her. "I put a bounty out on her months ago. I didn't trust her to not show up and cause more trouble."

"I would have been happy never seeing her again," Reiki muttered, her anger building slowly like a fire being kindled deep within her. She meant what she said. It had taken her a long time to come to grips with her many opposing and confusing feelings for the woman and to manage the underlying anger. Now that Konan was back, all of those emotions were being stirred up again.

"What now?" Naruto asked, moving closer to Tsunade and stand in front of his wife. He noticed both of the rough looking bounty hunters were eyeing the other two women warily as if wondering the same thing he was: which one would attack would first? Tsunade was definitely closer and had a hand on her but they all could feel the murderous intent flowing off of the other woman in palpable waves.

Reiki glared at the broad back of her husband in the tense silence. The rage within her made her grit her teeth and curl her fingers into fists. Moving with purpose and shocking speed, she stepped around her husband to get to Konan. Pushing her mother away, she stood in front of the woman who had caused her so much pain by assisting with kidnapping her and her son while leading her husband into a trap.

Konan could have refused at any time to follow through with Nagato's plan. She could have put her relationship with Reiki and Naruto ahead of the evil plan that would only bring pain to all of them, but she did not. Apparently her love for the treacherous man was worth more than their friendship or the Uzumaki family's lives. She had made her decision so Reiki was now about to make hers.

Naruto watched as if it were happening in slow motion as his wife built up her chakra and pressed her hands against Konan's chest over her heart. He knew what she was about to do; she was going to send a surge of power into the woman's body that would interrupt the normal rhythm of her heart and cause her to have a heart attack. It would be a slow, agonizing and inevitable death. He was not so sure about some of the new and deadly ways his wife had devised to manipulate her chakra.

"You broke my heart by betraying me. Now I'm going to break yours," Reiki growled, her golden eyes vicious and lethal.

"No," he breathed, lunging forward to grab her. Wrapping his arms around her from her behind, he whirled her around toward her desk just as the chakra was released. The desk exploded into a hail storm of splinters and shredded paper that filled the room.

"Naruto, dammit, what the hell did you do that for?!" she shrieked, jerking herself out of his grip to turn and glower at him with deadly intensity.

"I couldn't let you do it. I couldn't let you become a cold blooded killer," he told her, pulling her against his chest in a crushing embrace.

"What do we do with her?" one of the men inquired, weary of waiting. He was ready to collect the money and leave this place.

"Take her to the jail. I will escort you there myself," Tsunade grumbled, equally tired of having the woman in her presence. Turning her attention to her son-in-law who was holding her daughter, she ordered, "Naruto, take her home."

Tsunade realized too late it had been a mistake bringing her daughter here. Naruto seemed capable of handling the Hokage's duties and being a great leader. He had just displayed his competence in thinking calmly and rationally along with the ability to react swiftly to get a situation under control. Her daughter, however, had not reacted so well. It was not befitting of the position she would hold as the first lady, the princess, of this village to be so out of control. There was much work to be done to get them completely ready before she turned the village over to him and made Naruto the new Hokage.


	32. Chapter 32

I tried to include a little bit for everyone in this chapter. There's a fight scene and a sex scene so hopefully it won't be boring. I apologize in advance for the brevity of this chapter. I'm afraid updates will becoming fewer and farther between. I know where I want to go with this story, but I'll be slow in getting there so bear with me. Also real life is having a tendency to get in the way of my writing as of late. Thanks for reading! :)

* * *

Naruto was gazing at his wife as he often liked to do. As he watched her, he noticed something strange. Along the back of her neck, an elongated bump raised under her skin, forming a big bulge that seemed to crawl. The skin split open and a darkness, not the color black, but an actual darkness flooded out and covered her body.

"Reiki," he gasped as she turned to look at him. Her eyes were a yellowish-green color with vertical pupils. She blinked blankly at him not recognizing him. Revulsion filled him and made him feel as if he were going to vomit. A slit formed and cracked open where her mouth would be revealing sharp, pointed teeth that made him think she was going to eat him alive.

_The darkness is taking her over. Save her before she gives in and you lose her forever, _an eerie voice warned him.

"What?" he muttered, not understanding as the creature stared at him and licked its dry, scaly lips.

_You must save her!_ the voice yelled just as the thing that used to be his beautiful wife lunged at him.

Naruto awoke with a start, sweat rolling down his face and body. The sweat sliding down his back had cooled and felt like liquid fear racing down his spine. What was that all about? Running his hand over her side of the bed, the sensation of the cold sheets beneath his fingers startled him to full wakefulness. Where was she?

...

Jiraiya followed the fire balls that exploded at regular intervals above the tree tops. Just like him, subtlety was not one of his daughter's better qualities. She was more like him than she would ever admit. When she had not come home, he decided it might be best if he searched for her because he had suspected she had gone somewhere to get rid of a bit of her residual anger. He had just passed the treeline when a chakra infused fireball fell at his feet and exploded like a molotov cocktail sending showers of flames over him and the surrounding trees. To protect himself from being burned and to get hold of his daughter, he dropped through the ground not only to put out the flames on his clothes but to travel quickly to reemerge behind her. Grabbing her around the waist, he spun around with her in his arms before raising her to body slam her into the ground which created a small crater around her body. Her mother had taught her how to do that and she had used it many times on her husband through years during training manuevers; it was time she received a dose of her own medicine.

Reiki coughed and tried to catch her breath while she stared at the sky full of stars above her. What in the hell just happened? Blinking slowly, she saw the face of her father appear as he bent over her. Her nose wrinkled from the acrid smell of something burning. What was on fire? Faint wisps of white smoke rose from her father's clothing, and she bit her lip to keep from laughing when she realized she had inadvertently set him on fire. Had he been injured, it would not have been so funny but he seemed completely unfazed by having been set on fire just moments earlier.

"Now what? Get up and fight me," he ordered her, backing up before she could jump to her feet and head butt him. She had enjoyed doing that quite often when she was younger. It had been quite a few years since they had trained or even sparred together but he had not forgotten some of her favorite moves.

"Think you can take me, old man?" she challenged, sliding one foot forward. Her eyes held her father's while she slowly rocked backwards onto her back foot then forward onto her front foot. She continued the movement, rocking back and forth in a rhythmic manner.

"Oh, Baby, that's so basic," he chastised seeing she had reverted to a hand-to-hand technique she had not used in many years. "Try harder."

"All right, Toad Sage," she growled, a menacing grin curling her lips. She lurched forward as if she was about to punch him with her right fist. When he dodged to the left, she launched herself into the air and kicked him in the head with a roundhouse kick that he practically ran into.

Reiki landed on her feet and watched with satisfaction as her father landed on his butt. She smiled with sadistic mirth as he rubbed his sore jaw and glared at her.

"Well, the boy has done wonders training you," he muttered, standing to his feet. That hurt like hell. She definitely had her mother's strength.

"What?" she ground out between her teeth.

"What what?" he asked, moving toward her with his fists raised and swaying like he had been on an all night bender.

"What did you say?!" she shrieked, sliding her feet to the side to begin making a wide circle around him.

"What?" Jiraiya knew exactly what she was getting at. He knew she had her mother's temper and he was about to use that in his favor. It was time for his little girl to control that hellcat temper. "That your husband had trained you? I would definitely say the boy had his work cut out for him. However, he's done a fine job turning you into such a sweet, loving, obedient wife."

Jiraiya saw the fire erupt in her eyes and her whole body turned red with anger. He might have pushed it with the obedient thing. He had seen how her defenses melted with the beginning of the compliment then immediately raised with a fury that shone in her eyes upon using the o-word.

Reiki screamed in rage and pushed herself forward, bumrushing him to grab him around the waist before picking him up and propelling him across the clearing. Before she could push him into (or through) one of the trees surrounding the area, she felt herself suddenly being flipped over his shoulder. Somehow he had gotten his feet on the ground, using her own momentum to vault her over his shoulder just before he planted her in the earth again.

"Get up. Hit me this time," he taunted her, wiggling his fingers in a 'bring it on' way.

Reiki glared at him, curling and uncurling her fingers at her sides as she thought. Her thoughts were muddled from the blind rage, and it was nearly impossible to figure out what to do. Just as she lowered herself into position to attack her father again, she was surrounded by four clones of her husband that seized her by each limb and lifted her between them.

"Break free," one said, smiling at her in a feral way.

"What are you going to do?" another demanded, tightening his grip around her wrist until she thought he would break it.

"Take the pain and use if for something positive," the third told her, struggling to hold onto her leg as she kicked and screamed.

"SHUT UP AND THINK, DAMMIT!" the fourth bellowed loudly enough it made her cease her struggling and her howling.

Reiki closed her eyes, panting for breath as they continued to hold her. Think. At the moment, she was completely debilitated. One of her husband was incredibly strong and was a fair match for her. She had experienced two of him at once but under much more pleasurable conditions where being manhandled had taken on a whole new meaning. This, however, was just plain barbaric. Allowing her whole body to go limp, she took a cue from her children. She knew from it experience it was difficult to hold onto dead weight because when her children wanted out of her arms they would just hang limply in her arms like a rag doll. It had been a struggle to keep them from hitting the ground when they did that. Sure enough, despite there being four of him, she felt their fingers slipping and clutching at her to get a good grip. Staying completely relaxed for the fall to the ground, she hit without causing herself much pain and sprang to her feet. She became a whirlwind of movement, kicking and punching with wild abandon to take out the clones in turn. One by one they disappeared in a puff of smoke to reveal the real Naruto standing by her Father as they casually observed her actions.

"It was a little sloppy, but it did the job. Get your anger issues under control before they control you," her father warned, patting his son-in-law on the shoulder before disappearing into the trees. He needed to let her mother know that she was all right. The progress would be slow in getting her under control, but it could be done.

"Honey," Naruto murmured, going to her as she dropped to her knees.

Reiki allowed the tears to fall. It was time to let it go; the hate, the rage, the pain - all of it had to go. She put her arms around her husband who knelt down in front of her. Raising her head, her lips grazed his chin then moved to his mouth. The kiss was ravenous and demanding, causing her husband to push her away so he could breathe.

"Reiki," he gasped, holding her back as her fingers clawed at the zipper on his jacket.

"Please," she begged, her eyes boring into his. "I need you."

Naruto rubbed his hand over her head, attempting to smooth down her wild, flyaway hair. During her fight, some of her white hair had freed itself from her braids and gave her a slightly disheveled and very insane appearance. If it weren't for her pleading golden eyes, he would have laughed at her. He had not realized how deep her pain had ran. Betrayal and deception had been such a commonplace part of his life he did not know she felt it more deeply and held onto it more tightly. She had always been the mature one, the calm to his storm. This was new for him. It was time for him to take the lead in all aspects of his life. His wife was caught in a very deep dark place, and she needed him to lead her out.

"Let it go, sweetheart," he encouraged her as she cried. Holding her head against his shoulder, he methodically unbraided her hair as she cried. This was not only to keep him busy but also to help comfort her. Once he could get his fingers into her hair, he would run his fingers through it until she almost purred and melted in his arms.

"I need you," she repeated, sliding down the zipper of his jacket and slipping her hands inside to caress his bare chest.

In his haste to leave to find her, he had neglected to put on a shirt. It was a miracle he had gotten out the door with any clothes on at all since he had been in such a hurry. Grabbing fistfuls of her hair, he pulled her head back and kissed her neck from her chin down to her collar bone. "I'm right here for you. Do what you want."

Reiki took him up on that invitation and pushed him over onto his back. She unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, grabbing his erect member with her hand. A sigh escaped her when his hands slid over belly and to her pants, pushing them over her hips and down her thighs. She released him long enough to finish removing her clothes from the waist down so she could clamber on top of him to do exactly what she wanted. After sliding down on top of him with an extended groan of pleasure, she closed her eyes and moved her hips in a wide arc above him to bring a moan from him.

Naruto sat up, holding her tightly against his chest as she continued to move from the head to the base on him, making them both sigh and moan with ecstasy. He held onto her as the speed of her movements increased. It soon became evident she was pouring out all of her wrath into each movement, and it was difficult to hang on to her. Her fingernails dug into the lowest part of his back before pulling upward to create trails of seering pain up his back as she mercilessly clawed him. He shivered when the warm blood exited the wounds and trickled down his back before instantly cooling in the night air. He shuddered when he recalled the feeling he had experienced during the dream because it was something like this.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she gasped, sliding her hands down his back to heal the superficial wounds quickly.

"It doesn't matter. I'm tough. I can handle it," he responded, holding her face with one hand to bring her lips to his as the warmth of her healing touch spread across his back. He was not tough where she was concerned and the world seemed to know that. At least she needed him just as much as he needed her. She could heal his body and had often healed his mind and emotions; he would do the same for her.

"Naruto," she gasped, enclosing his shoulders tightly with her arms as she rode him with reckless abandon.

Naruto felt as if she were squeezing the life out of him as she held him with a death grip while driving him to the edge of insanity with pleasure. He never imagined she would keep him thoroughly enchanted for the rest of their life together. Assuming they would slip into a comfortable, predictable life, he was surprised to still find things about her that kept him captivated. Just when he thought he had her figured out, she changed. Feeling her body shaking and thrashing on top of him, he held onto her waiting until she calmed a bit before releasing into her. A strange tingling sensation as if electricity were sparking over his skin made him open his eyes.

Chakra, in a gorgeous turquoise color, rose from her skin like bluish green flames in response to his orange chakra leaking from his body. Both people observed in amazement as the colored chakras met and merged, rushing over their bodies in a violet purple color.

"What is it?" he asked, panting slightly as a sexual excitement began to build inside of him.

"I-I d-don't kn-know," Reiki replied breathily. She inhaled sharply when something like an orgasm swept through her body and made her writhe uncontrollably. "What's happening?"

"I don't know," he answered, looking into her eyes that were a distinct violet color as the light from their combines chakras reflected in them. "But I like it."

"Me too."


	33. Chapter 33

Konan opened one gray eye to the bright morning sun that flooded her cell. At first she thought she was dreaming when she saw her cell door was standing open and the guards were nowhere to be seen. Sitting up so fast she made herself dizzy, she rubbed her eyes and blinked to make sure she was not seeing things. Something sitting on the floor in the middle of the open doorway caught her attention. After yawning and stretching leisurely, she stood to her feet to go see what the item could be. Her heart skipped a beat and her throat tightened as tears sprang to her eyes. Kneeling on the floor, she stared at the blue paper rose she had given Reiki as an offering of friendship. Scooping it up with her hands, she brought the rose close to her face. Her tears fell onto the delicate paper petals, darkening them with her sadness. She noticed the piece of paper lying on the floor that had been underneath the flower and picked it up to read the words.

_I forgive you, but I will never forget. I can never be your friend again because you hurt me too much. Please take this and leave. If you do not leave, or dare to return, be prepared to fight for your life. ~Reiki~_

Konan crumpled the piece of paper, rubbing it between her fingers until it turned to dust which collected in her palm. Opening her hand, she blew the remnants off her palm then watched it fall through the air to disappear just like her feelings. The woman who had been her friend had now become her enemy. She attached an explosive tag to the flower, carefully hiding it underneath as she positioned it on the bench where she had spent several uncomfortable nights sleeping. She had come to warn her friend that Nagato and a few members of the Akatsuki had been resurrected by Kabuto, Orochimaru's devoted disciple who had stolen the snake's DNA after his demise and used it on himself for enhancements. She had allowed herself to be held captive by that little jerk for years to secretly watch over him and figure out what he was up to. Upon finding out, she had made her escape to come tell Reiki what was happening. The one good thing Sasuke Uchiha ever did was kill the snake Orochimaru; give that man a medal - oh, wait, he's dead because Naruto Uzumaki killed him. A cruel smile twisted her lips. Well, as far as she was concerned, Reiki and Naruto Uzumaki were as good as dead because she had every intention of going to find her undead boyfriend and his resurrected friends to inform them this village was ripe for the picking - or rather destroying.

~^..^~

Reiki was sitting at her new desk in the Hokage's office recalculating her mother's remaining gambling debts when the explosion sounded. She immediately jumped to her feet to hurry to the window and saw the smoke curling upward from the vicinity of the jail. Maybe leaving that short note had been a bad idea. Or had it been the returning of the rose and rejection of her friendship that had angered Konan? Shoving open the window, Reiki jumped out onto the rooftop to use her husband's favorite method of motivating about the village that he still indulged in from time to time. She had to use the rooftop super highway to get there fast. It had been a while since she had done this and she misjudged a jump when she attempted to get to the building across the street. Catching the edge of the roof with a single hand, she gritted her teeth as she pulled herself up. That would have been a humiliating injury to explain if she had hit the ground navigating the large gap between the buildings. Taking a deep breath and peeking over the edge of the two-story building to the ground far below, she blew the stray hair out of her face then continued on toward the smoke. If anyone had been injured in the blast, she needed to be there to aid Sakura and Ino in taking care of them.

When Reiki arrived at the jail there was an organized panic. There were many people there running in all directions but at least it was for a purpose to search for victims and to help those that were hurt. Naruto was there along with Kiba who was literally sniffing through the rubble to make sure there were no more people trapped under the demolished jail. Kakashi and several other of the men were digging through the pile of wreckage to find survivors as well.

"Damn her," Reiki muttered under her breath, going to Sakura who was kneeling beside one of the bleeding jailers who had suffered a severe head injury.

"I'm okay," she said upon seeing the platinum blonde approaching her. "There's one over there in dire need of attention."

Reiki swung her head in the direction Sakura had indicated with a jerk of her chin. Konohamaru was lying on the ground unconscious. It appeared he had something enveloped in his arms with his body curled around it. _A doll?, _she wondered upon seeing the small body and white skin. Then she saw the dark red hair that was common to the Uzumaki's.

"Oh, Kami, no," she gasped, rushing to him and dropping to her knees. If she did not posses her mother's incredible strength, she would not have been able to peel the young man away from her child because his protective grip was so strong.

"Reiki, I'm sorry, I..." He lost consciousness again before he could finish his sentence.

Checking to make sure he was breathing, she went back to assessing the injuries on her unconscious child. There was a large gash on her forehead that was bleeding profusely like all head wounds do so it was difficult to assess exactly how much damage had been done. Once she realized it was only a long cut but not too deep, she moved on to check for broken bones or internal injuries on her daughter. Satisfied that Nariko was fine except for the scary looking but non life threatening wound on her forehead, she moved to examine her protector who had not yet regained consciousness.

"Konohamaru," she gasped, sliding her hands along his sides. He had suffered severe internal injuries and was bleeding heavily from several organs. She surmised that the two of them had been walking by the jail when the explosion happened. Apparently he had used his body to shield Nariko from the worst of the blast. The sheer impact from the explosion had damaged his body because he had no external injuries whatsoever. Nariko had probably been hit by a piece of flying shrapnel after they had fallen to the ground.

Reiki placed one hand over his heart to speed up its sluggish beat as her other hand pressed against his belly to stop the bleeding from his liver and kidneys. Her chakra was flowing into him and should be healing him but it felt weak and useless in comparison to the extent of his injuries. She watched in horror as blood bubbled from between his lips and trickled down his face. The bleeding was not stopping and it only seemed to grow worse.

"Naruto!" she screamed in a panic. "Help me!"

"How?" he inquired, dropping down behind her.

"Put your arms around me, hold me tight, and send your chakra through my body," she ordered him, never taking her eyes off of Konohamaru's face that had drained of its usual tanned color to become a sickening shade of gray.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Think of what's happened in the past when I - " he dared to protest.

"What the hell do you think happens when we have sex sometimes? Just do it or he'll die!" she yelled, turning her pleading golden eyes on her husband. "He saved Nariko. He's like this because he protected her."

Naruto's first thought was that he had no idea the little pervert was capable of such greatness then he remembered how he acted as a kid and how life was turning out for him. The ability to be great comes with maturity not just by wishing for it alone. Putting his arms around his wife's waist, he pulled her body close to his to virtually mold himself to her.

"Now what?" he whispered in her ear, allowing the tiniest bit of the chakra to infuse her body straight from the demon within him.

Reiki gasped as the electrical surge passed through her body to make every nerve ending stand up and take notice. She closed her eyes and concentrated, pushing the power into her hands and into the injured boy's body. She had to save him; it was the least she could do to repay him for saving her daughter.

Naruto watched with fascination as history repeated itself and the heatless flames of orange and turquoise melted into a single beautiful shade of violet. He kissed her cheek feeling her body shiver as he opened the channel a little wider and allowed more chakra to flow into her.

Reiki bit her lip to hold back the moan that she was not sure if it originated from pain or pleasure. She would have to talk with her father about this new and strange phenomenon she and her husband were experiencing. Her father would probably enjoy the fact that it seemed to originate from sexual excitement in particular. Pervert from hell.

"Just a little more. It's working," she said, gasps interfering with her ability to talk but not stopping her. Her hands moved over her patient's body to search for more injuries and heal them.

"Reiki," Konohamaru moaned as her fingers moved over his ribs and accidentally tickled him. He reached to grab her hands, curling his fingers around her wrists. He felt hot, dizzy, and disoriented with absolutely no clue what was going on. He had been walking Nariko home from school when he saw the flash from the corner of his eye and covered her body with his. If her mother knew... He shot to a sitting position a little too fast causing the light-headedness to overwhelm him which made him fall forward right into his healing angel's cleavage.

Reiki had mercy on the boy considering the situation and gingerly pushed his head back with a forefinger pressed to his forehead. She did cradle him in her arms like a mother holds an injured child despite him being about seventeen years old now. Pressing her lips to his forehead, she used the comforting gesture to impart more chakra into his body which made him sigh with what she hoped was contentment. Her arms slipped from around him when his arms moved around her waist and he nuzzled against her breast. She raised a fist but her husband caught it and held it before she could hit the half conscious teen.

"For Kami's sake, Reiki, don't hurt him. You just spent all that time and energy healing him," her husband reminded her.

"Mama," Nariko called, giving her mother the perfect excuse to unhinge herself from the awakening pervert.

"Baby," she gasped, shoving the over affectionate dark headed teenager away to go to her daughter.

"Sometimes I envy you," Konohamaru said to Naruto as they watched her tending to her child.

"Trust me, it's a whole different world when she's your wife," he replied, glaring at the boy. "Thank you for protecting my baby."

"You're welcome," the boy burgeoning on becoming a man returned. "Hey, Naruto, you're going to be the next Hokage right?"

"Well, yeah, why?" the blonde asked, standing to his feet and offering his hand to help Konohamaru stand.

"I'm going to be Hokage after you," he stated with determination mirroring the big smile on Naruto's face.

"You're that sure?" He reached out to ruffle the teen's spiky brown hair and laughed when his hand was pushed away in mock anger.

"Yeah, just like you always were, bro. You're still my big brother, right?" The big, dark eyes of the boy stared at the ground self-consciously occasionally flicking to the mother and daughter who were talking in hushed tones.

"Always." He caught Konohamaru in a headlock and gave him an affectionate and very brotherly noogie.

"When you two are done with your tear jerking moment of male bonding, I would like to take my daughter home," Reiki announced, standing to her feet with her daughter in her arms.

"Oh, yes, she's absolutely charming sometimes," the boy commented receiving an elbow in the ribs from the blond husband.

"Hey, that's my wife you're talking about," Naruto shot back with a small amount of hostility.

"What the hell...but you said...oh, never mind," Konohamaru mumbled realizing it was pointless to argue. It was just fine for the husband to say something disparaging about his wife but no one else better say anything. Was being married really this confusing? If it was, he wanted no part of it.

"Hey," Reiki said, turning around so quickly she almost caused the hero of the day to run into her breasts. "Why don't you come have dinner with us? It's the least we can do to -"

"Yes, I'd love to," he accepted a little bit too enthusiastically.

Reiki could not help but smile at him. He reminded her so much of Naruto. It was the only reason she tolerated him up until this moment. Now she had a whole new reason to actually like him. He had protected her daughter and risked his own life doing so. She could forget his past offenses of the perverted kind for that. But if he ever dared to touch her again...well, hopefully he would never touch her again.

~^..^~

* * *

"So you say it happens when you're both...um, uh...excited?" Jiraiya inquired using an uncharacteristic amount of tact as he glanced between his daughter and her husband standing side by side with sheepish grins and blushes on their faces.

"Yes," she answered, sighing heavily with relief that he had not used this opportunity to be a super pervert.

"Show me," he ordered her, crossing his arms over his chest while glaring at them skeptically.

"WHAT?!" she screeched, lunging toward her father with her fists raised.

"Oh, stop it, Miss Freaks-out-a-lot. That's not what he meant. Honestly," Naruto muttered, moving his body behind hers. Like he had for several weeks during their experimentation with their newfound power, he fitted his body to hers while enclosing her waist with his arms.

Reiki pressed her lips together, closing her eyes as he moved his lips close to her ear. She felt him raising her arms with his underneath them, slowly leaning forward to bring their hands together. They had developed a few interesting techniques that required an even more interesting process to bring them about.

"Just listen to me and allow me to move you like we always do," he prompted her, kissing her neck. He felt the immediate rise of chakra within her and pushed his chakra into her body. "Think of me touching you, my fingertips gliding down your thighs as I spread your legs. My lips kiss up your thigh, moving closer and closer until I thrust my tongue deep into your..."

Jiraiya was startled and actually physically jumped when his daughter released a loud moan that was almost a howl and purplish wisps of light erupted across their bodies. What the hell could that boy be whispering to her and what the hell was up with that chakra? He watched in astonishment as they moved fluidly together as if gathering the wind itself by the armful as they enclosed nothing and pulled it toward their bodies while rocking back on their feet. They moved as one and it was like a dance. He observed with gape mouthed shock as they suddenly shoved their hands forward in front of them in unison and two little purple tornadoes appeared that grew as they moved forward, carving trenches in their path and sucking in everything they came near.

Naruto and Reiki opened their eyes to survey the damage caused by the twin tornadoes that they had purposely kept small to prevent causing too much destruction. Ahead of them lay parallel ditches full of what appeared to be toothpicks and grass which was all that was left from the trees, bushes, and other random foliage they had pulled in and ground up.

"Whoa," Jiraiya gasped, staring at the carnage of the forest. "It killed it then buried it in the grave it dug. Amazing!" His dark eyes turned on the couple who were nervously fidgeting. He knew they wanted answers but he had none. He had never seen anything like this before. What he did know was they had managed to somehow combine their chakras and make a kick-ass new thing. "What other tricks can you do?"

"We don't know yet," Naruto answered, hugging his wife who seemed almost disturbed by their destructive capabilities. "We haven't explored it that much."

"Hmmm," the Toad Sage murmured, rubbing his chin as he thought. "This is something we really must delve into a bit. If nothing else, you two will be a fantastic distraction on the battlefield while _powering up, _shall we say."

"No, you _shan't," _the Pervy Sage's smart mouthed daughter shot back.

Naruto sighed loudly and ran his fingers through his shaggy longer hair. Figuring this out was going to be a physical and emotional trial for them all. Two things he could be assured of would be his father-in-law's perversion and his wife's barbed comments.


	34. Chapter 34

Okay, gotta give a shout out to Firetemplar415 for the inspiration for this chapter. Thanks so much for the suggestion that pushed me to write it.

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Jiraiya watched with perverse satisfaction as the couple assumed their official position of Naruto standing behind Reiki with his arms around her waist. He pressed his lips together as he watched the blonde caress her bared midriff while whispering in her ear. His daughter had taken to wearing short shirts and skirts for the training sessions for a special reason. The two of them would often have to take breaks to disappear into the surrounding forest to work out of some of the stress and sexual excitement caused by their unusual way of increasing their chakra levels and strength. He was left to listen to the sounds of sex while resisting the compulsion to use his Transparent Escape Technique to spy on them and their little trysts. However, he had no desire to face his daughter's wrath when she discovered him watching them like a lecherous creep. Years ago his astute and too-damn-smart-for-his-own-good daughter had learned to detect him while he was using it and would inevitably find him every time he had tried to peep into windows to perform a little research. These two could be his greatest study subjects yet for one of his novels, and he could not even take advantage of it. Dammit.

Reiki swiveled her hips and moaned as Naruto rubbed his rock hard erection against the small of her back. The light purple tendrils of chakra danced across their skin and made both of them sigh from the fabulous little shocks of arousal it sent coursing through their bodies. She formed an actual flame of fire in her palm while filling her mouth with oil. Pursing her lips, she sent out the oil in a spray making a straight line of flames that Naruto caught with a wind release that he used to shape the flames into a sphere. She continued to blow, making the fireball he had formed in front of them increase in size.

"Gives new meaning to giving a blowjob doesn't it?" he murmured in her ear, kissing her neck.

Reiki began to laugh, losing her concentration and interrupting the stream of oil feeding the fire. The fireball was instantly extinguished by the wind that had been keeping it in a spherical form.

"DAMMIT, REIKI!" her father bellowed angrily.

"We'll be right back," she informed her father, taking her husband by the hand to lead him into the nearby treeline. Although he was taller and more muscular, she seized the handsome blonde by the t-shirt and pushed him against a tree. Pressing her lips against his with an almost painful intensity, her hands immediately went to his pants to get what she was after.

"Want it a little rough, baby?" he asked, tugging on her braids until she leaned her head back to offer him her neck.

"I don't care how you give it to me," she murmured, stroking his member and receiving a moan of approval in return while he nipped at her sensitive skin. "I just want it."

"Okay," he returned, picking her up and turning to push her back against the tree. He pushed up her skirt and thrust into her as she held panties to the side for him. All of this sexually oriented training had turned her into an aggressive nymphomaniac. It kept him so overstimulated he was more than happy to feed her need.

Reiki wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist to hold on for the ride. Her back scraped along the rough bark of the tree but she was feeling too much pleasure to allow the pain to bother her. She howled with ecstasy as he took her hard and fast to sate their hunger for each other. Having no time to linger in that lovely place of warmth and complete satisfaction, she kissed him on the lips before they commenced with putting everything back into place before going back to training.

Jiraiya was sitting cross-legged with his arms folded in front of his chest and pouting like his granddaughter when she did not get her way. He was not getting his way by being able to perform some much needed investigation for his new novel. The ideas were not there and the editor was breathing down his neck for the manuscript. Glaring at the glowing couple with the fresh fucked look all over them, he grudingly removed himself from his pouting place.

"Well, do it again and this time don't make her laugh. I want to see what happens. I'll create a protective barrier around all of us to make sure we don't get burned," he announced, moving to stand within a few yards of the two soon to be masters of sex chakra.

Who the hell would have guessed this would happen? It was almost a sick cosmic joke that his daughter and godson would be able to enhance their powers by using sex. At least there was a practical purpose for his perversion besides for entertainment with his dirty little novels that he enjoyed writing so much. Shaking his head, he turned back to the task at hand which was to help these two develop techniques with their erotic skill set. This time he was close enough to hear what was being said between them. If he only had a pen and paper with him... Once again he had to redirect his attention and he immediately formed the protective barrier around them as the gigantic fireball spun ominously in front of them.

"Okay, now do something with it!" Jiraiya commanded, rolling his eyes at the possible sexual connotation of his order.

Reiki slapped her hands together and the fireball exploded, literally making it rain fire on the area. She closed her eyes and leaned against her husband in exhaustion as the cool, gentle drops of water fell on her face as he made it rain to put out the thousands of tiny fires in the area.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," the Pervy Sage grumbled, wincing when the other two tittered with laughter like dirty minded teenagers. "That could have been a hell of a lot better. If we should ever need to burn down a village slowly and pathetically, you two are hired."

"Oh, you're so damn bitchy when you're sexually frustrated," Reiki growled, stepping away from her husband. She was tired. Her body ached from dealing with all of the power that had been flowing through it as well as the pounding she had taken from her husband. Her head hurt from all of the filthy, sexy words that were still running round and round in her brain. She had endured enough for the day.

"Do it again!" her father commanded mercilessly, refusing to even acknowledge her comment. He was more frustrated about not being able to satisfy his curiosity and find literary fodder for his next novel than being aroused.

"Hell no, I'm not doing it again!" she screamed, spinning on her heel to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Jiraiya demanded.

"Home!" she shrieked without turning around.

"Well, training's over! Can't do anything without my partner. Gotta go!" Naruto exclaimed, saluting the irate white haired pervert before turning to jog briefly to catch up to his wife. "Are you all right?"

Naruto noticed Reiki had a pinched expression on her face indicating she was in some kind of discomfort. He pressed his hand against her shoulder, and she pulled away from him to avoid his touch which startled him. Stopping in his tracks, he stared after her as she moved ahead a few steps before halting.

"I-I'm s-sorry," she stammered, turning to see the emotional hurt in his big blue eyes. Guilt made her feel slightly ill. "I didn't mean to do that. I guess it's because...well you know...we stay in such close contact now, I..."

It was not often his wife was at a loss for words, and he could tell she was really struggling with this. Neither one of them had considered some of the consequences that would come from this. His hand pressed against her cheek, and he was glad when she held hers over it to keep it in place. Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her on the forehead and held her in a comforting, and for the first time today, nonsexual way.

~^..^~

Naruto could not sleep. He opened his eyes and stared at his wife. Her incessant and loud snoring brought on by her bone tired weariness was reminiscent of the sound of the wild hogs in the forest but did nothing to diminish his yearning for her. His fingers moved along her cheek down to her lips. He pulled his hand away when she cried out in her sleep before rolling over to turn her back to him. His eyes moved down her body and his hand followed the path of his eyes as it glided over the swell of her hip.

"Sweetheart," she sighed, turning back over to look at him. She kissed him tenderly on the lips and stroked his whisker marked cheek lovingly. "I can't. I just can't."

Naruto could not be angry with her. Despite her tiredness, she had made love to him twice that evening; once in the shower and once after getting into bed. It was not her fault he had become a sex starved beast from all of their sexually charged training. He knew she could not go on anymore but his body was not only willing but ready. Rolling onto his back and putting his hands behind his head to keep them from touching her, he stared up at the ceiling. Sleep was an impossibility and when the snoring began again, he moved out of the bed. Maybe if he had a drink it would relax him and allow him to get some sleep. He paused in the living room when he saw his father-in-law the author sitting in the corner in his 'writing chair' with the pen hovering over paper and a blank look on his face.

"Writer's block?" he ventured to guess, startling the white haired man out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," Jiraiya answered before cursing under his breath in frustration.

"Want a drink?" Naruto asked, pointing toward the kitchen.

"Hell, yes, son," the man answered bringing the pen and paper with him just in case an idea should strike him unexpectedly. "Something's got to tear down this damn wall preventing the ideas from flowing. With any luck, a drink or ten will do the trick."

Naruto chuckled lightly pulling several bottles of booze from their hiding place in the very back corner on the highest shelf of the corner cabinet. He grabbed two glasses to bring to the table as well. Not really caring what he was drinking, he picked a bottle and poured the glasses half full, sliding the second one to the man who had made his life a living hell today.

"I can't believe you don't have a single idea for a story," he snorted derisively, downing his drink with amazing speed and pouring another one.

"It's not as easy as you think. The creative process is more than just putting the words on paper. It has to be the right words. They have to have power and meaning. Leave the reader with something to think about," Jiraiya mused, refilling his glass as well.

"You write sex stories for Kami's sake, not epic historical novels," Naruto shot back, feeling the warm tingly sensation of a buzz flowing from his head down his body like warm water pouring over him.

"It's not that easy!" the uninspired author whined, slamming his fist down on the table hard enough to make the liquor bottles clink together. "Shut up and have another one."

There was a long pause in conversation as they drank more and got a little more tipsy. Then the questions began.

"Where was the most unusual place you ever had sex?" Jiraiya boldly queried.

"With your daughter or any girl?" Naruto asked, taking a sip of his drink and suddenly there was two of everything.

"How many others were there and what did you do to them? What did they do to you?"

Naruto smiled drunkenly at the inquisitive man then he opened his mouth to speak.

~^..^~

Reiki was in her father's office rifling through dozens of stacks of papers. She had gone to work today at the Hokage's office because she could not bear another day of training. Her mother had strategically misplaced several financial papers that needed reviewing and told her they might be in Jiraiya's office. She opened the bottom drawer to his desk and was pawing through papers when she found an envelope in the back. Opening up the big brown envelope, she slid the thick stack of papers out onto the desk. A manuscript? Why had he not brought this to her to proofread yet? That had been her job for years and she knew his publisher was waiting for his latest novel. Kakashi had been irritating the hell out of her for days about it. Her father's number one fan knew his publishing schedule just as well as she did. Sitting down in his chair, she read the title of the new manuscript: _Untamed Love._

"Ugh, Daddy really. So predictable," she groaned in reference to the cliché title. It made the story sound more like a cheap romance trash novel rather than an erotic thrill ride.

_The blond hero had just returned from the war. He was beaten and scarred from the many wounds received in battle. He wondered if his beautiful maiden would even recognize him. Fear made him queasy and reluctant to return home. Instead, he decided to visit the cliffs where he and his beloved had spent many hours watching sunsets and seeking the comfort only great sex could bring to their deeply hurting hearts. Just as he was about to step out into 'their spot' he saw her. She was sitting there with her knees pulled up to her chin, tears running down her flawless cheeks as she watched the sunset alone._

Skipping a few paragraphs, she reached the sex part and started reading again.

_He placed her on the boulder, careful not to injure her magnificent ass. Grasping her legs behind the knees, he separated them and slid his throbbing member into her body. She sighed with satisfaction, leaning back as her lovely golden eyes closed. His hand covered her breast, squeezing under he felt the nipple harden against his palm. They were making love in an open area on the cliffs where anyone could look up and see them but neither one of them cared._

Reiki put down the page and thought for a moment. Something about this sounded vaguely familiar. Contemplating why anything in one of her father's books would sound the least bit recognizable, she marked it up to reading so many of his novels for proofing and dismissed the feeling of deja vu. She rifled through the pages, finding one from the next chapter. Apparently this book was going to be an anthology of stories involving different scenarios with one common thread between them: sex of course.

_He could barely believe she was here, in his apartment. He had wanted her for so long and here she lay in his bed. It was like a dream come true. Touching her, he pulled back his hand when she stirred and moaned his name. His body responded immediately, his manhood hardening instantly and pulsating painfully. He wanted her, but he never knew she wanted him. Being younger than her and something of the laughingstock of the village, he felt that she would never be interested in him and that he did not deserve her. So why was she here?_

_"What are you waiting for?" she asked, startling him out of his thoughts._

_"I uh, I...um, I-I d-don't kn-know," he responded, his body trembling. He reached down to pick up one of her white blond braids that lay across her huge breast. He had always been captivated by those large breasts._

_Her small hand slid over his pectoral muscle as her gleaming golden eyes stared into his azure blue ones._

"What the hell?" she mumbled, her thoughts colliding and exploding in her brain. That sounded like her father was describing her and Naruto.

The first excerpt she had read reminded her of when he returned home from training and they made love on top of the Hokage monument. The other instance was like when she had gone to clean his apartment yet creative license had been taken because they did not have sex that day. That had come later after a few months of living with him. Shuffling the papers around, she grabbed another random sheet.

_"Don't you want to know what it feels like?" she asked, her wet pink tongue darting out to lick over the head of his pulsating rigid manmeat._

"Manmeat, what the hell you old pervert, that's just sick," she muttered, her eyes darting across the page as she read a word for word account of the first time her husband experienced oral sex. And it was with her. Slamming the page down onto the desk, she snatched up another neatly written page to begin reading their first experience with chakra surges brought on by sex.

Reiki face planted on the desk, not even feeling the shooting stabs of pain through her nose and forehead from the abrupt meeting of wood and flesh. "No...no,no, no, NO! This can't be. He couldn't have done this. THEY couldn't have done this!"

Reiki gathered the papers back into a stack, carefully arranging them into a thick white rectangle. She could feel the heat rising in her palms as she activated a flame. Holding the papers as they caught fire, she closed her eyes to listen to the crackling fire as the novel detailing her and her husband's sexual exploits turned to black cinders in her hands. She opened her eyes, staring at the pile of ash on her father's desk. Dusting off her hands, she stomped out of the house. It was time to find the big mouthed blonde who had committed a serious overshare and the sex fiend author who seemed to have put literary necessity over parental duties. She was headed toward the work site where they were busy assisting Inari and Tazuna with building a house: her and Naruto's house. Naruto and Jiraiya were in serious danger from a severely pissed off Reiki and did not even know it yet.

~...~

"What is that?" Inari asked, setting his hammer down on the work bench. There was a terrible noise that sounded like thunder combined with a woman's voice and it was coming toward them.

"I don't know," Tazuna responded, wiping the sweat from his brow with the towel around his neck. His eyes moved to Jiriaya and Naruto who were staring at each other in shocked silence. Apparently, they knew what was causing the sound that was reminiscent of something heralding the end of the world.

"WHERE ARE THEY?" Reiki bellowed appearing at the edge of the worksite. Without looking down, she somehow managed to navigate her way through the random stacks of construction materials without tripping. She moved without blinking heading in a straight line to her husband who did not move a muscle.

"Reiki?" Naruto gasped, staring at his wild eyed wife who looked like she had completely lost her mind. Her face was flushed deep crimson and her gold eyes were glowing with anger; he had seen this before so he knew she was positively livid. Her hair stuck out from her head at odd angles in tangled white strands giving her the appearance she had styled it by inserting her finger into an electrical source.

"Honey!" Jiraiya exclaimed with feigned happiness. She reminded him of her mother from the time when they were teenagers and she had caught him peeping in her bedroom window. He massaged his ribs remembering that she had broken four of them along with both of his legs when he tried to run away from her. It was not the first time, or the last for that matter, that the woman had beat the hell out of him for being a hopeless and unrepentant voyeur.

"YOU!" Reiki screamed like a possessed woman, lunging toward him with a flame dancing on the tip of her finger as she readied herself to unleash a spray of oil. She was unexpectedly seized by Kakashi to prevent the wrathful woman from incinerating her father. Where the hell had awesome ninja been hiding? Obviously he would protect his favorite author at all costs. Employing her trick of going totally limp, she dropped from his backwards bear hug, purposely elbowing him with all of her strength in his private parts on her way down to the ground. He was going to be the consummate bachelor anyway so what did he need those for? Watching him writhe in agony on the ground for a few minutes, she stood to her feet to glare down at him with a sadistically happy grin on her face. She kicked him in the butt to add insult to injury as he coughed to dislodge his testicles from his throat where she had shoved them with a well placed elbow. "Repeat that, asshole," she snarled at the infamous copy ninja.

"Oh, damn, we're dead," Jiraiya mumbled, staring at his daughter that was stalking toward them like a crazed serial killer.

"WE!" Naruto screeched, his voice breaking. "This is all your fault!"

"My fault?!" he yelled like a child accused of stealing the last cookie. "Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'loose lips sink ships'? It's not my fault you can't hold your alcohol!"

"Did it ever occur to you, you damn pervert, that the ship you would be sinking is my marriage?" the furious blonde hollered, dodging his wife's fist. "Now, look what I've got to deal with!"

Reiki lay her hand on her father's shoulder, zapping him with just enough chakra to disrupt the electrical signals in his body to render him unconscious. The Ero-Sannin went down with a bang on the newly constructed wooden floor of the structure. Kneeling beside him, she flattened her palm on his chest over his heart to send a mild jolt through him to reset the beat of his heart so he would not die. Although she was angry enough to kill her father, she could never live with the guilt it would cause her when she came back to her senses. Besides, she really did love him. Or she always told herself that anyway. Once her father was dealt with, she turned her murderous amber eyes on her husband who was still standing in the same spot.

Naruto knew there was no reason to run. Even if he got away from her, she would find him. If nothing else, she would wait it out at home until he arrived because they both knew he would have to go home sometime. Glancing around his surroundings, he almost smiled with the irony of it all since he was standing in the wooden skeleton of what would be their home.

"Well, damn," he muttered, the smile falling from his face when he saw the deep glower on hers. Upon seeing her fist that was drawn back, he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.

Reiki's fist came across high on his cheek in a punishing roundhouse that bruised his eye and made it start swelling instantly. She took another swing, this time hitting him in the belly. When he doubled over from the hit, her knee came up to smash into his nose breaking it and sending a shower of blood over her legs and feet. He had long ago lost count of how many times she had broken his nose. Since he was down on his knees in front of her, she grabbed a handful of his blonde hair and pulled his head back. She paused when one of his blue eyes opened wide to stare at her; the other one was already swollen shut. Raising her fist, she hesitated when his bloody lips parted for him to speak.

"Just remember whatever damage you do, you will have to heal. I love you, baby and I'm sorry," he panted, closing his eye and preparing himself for whatever else she planned to do to him.

"How could you do it? It was some of the most intimate and private moments of our lives. Why?" she asked, tears sliding from her eyes.

"I don't have a good reason or even a stupid excuse. Just do whatever you have to do to feel better, baby," he said, opening his eye when her arms enclosed his neck. Instead of choking him to death, he was pleasantly surprised when she held him and proceeded to heal his injuries.

"I love you, you big idiot."


	35. Chapter 35

Thank you to Firetemplar 415 for looking over this chapter for me. Hopefully, everyone will see a disappearance of typos and things that make you go 'huh?!'. Well, on the story...I hope you like it! :D

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Jiraiya sat at his desk leaning over the ashes of what could have been his greatest work ever. Grown men shouldn't cry, especially the infamous Pervy Sage. Dammit! His magnum opus lay in a pile of pitiful ash that was turning into a muddy mess from his tears falling into it. If he didn't love that girl so damn much he would kill her ass, revive her, and do it all over again. Instead he chose to cry like an impotent fool allowing his grief to overwhelm him as if he was mourning the loss of his best friend.

"How long has he been like this?" Reiki asked her mother who was standing in the doorway of his study watching the Ero-Sannin indulging in being the whiny baby pathetic author.

"Three days," Tsunade answered without taking her eyes off of her sorrowful husband. He had not cried like this since he claimed she broke his manhood. They both knew it was physically impossible, but it had not stopped him from carrying on about it. She had given him no sympathy in that instance. However, she could feel her heart going out to him in this one. Considering this situation involved his writing, that was what made it different. His writing means everything to him and defines him even more than his penchant for voyeurism and off-color comments.

"Three days!" her daughter exclaimed, receiving a quick elbow to ribs. A loud crack sounded and a breath stealing pain shot through her side because her mother had broken a rib. "Dammit, Mama!"

"You deserved it," her mother growled, turning to face her daughter. "You could have at least given him the opportunity to do a rewrite and make the main characters less recognizable." Her golden eyes moved swiftly from head to toe on her daughter who stood perfectly still as she concentrated healing the damaged bone. "You look nice. Special occasion?"

"No, we just finally learned how to harness our chakra more effectively so I don't have to dress like a hooker and Naruto doesn't have to - "

"Okay, I get it," her mother interrupted, not wanting to hear how the boy had to 'stir up' her daughter's chakra. Jiraiya had been more than happy to inform her, in great detail no less, about that already.

For the first time in many weeks, Reiki was covered and wearing clothes more appropriate to not only her age but station in life as a mother to two children and daughter of the Hokage not to mention the wife of the future Hokage. She was wearing a sleeveless kimono top like her mother's but in a turquoise color and black obi pants with a white sash. Taking a deep breath, she decided she could no longer stand by and watch the depressing sight in front of her. Going over to her father and grabbing the back of his rolling chair, she pulled him back from the desk. She sat down in his lap like she did when she was a little a girl and put her arms around his neck.

"I love you, Daddy," she said, embracing him tightly but being careful not to do so too tightly since she possessed her mother's strength. "I have something to show you that will cheer you up."

"I don't want to go!" he bellowed petulantly like a five year old who had just been told it was time for school.

"Oh, yes you will. Let's go," she muttered, pulling the pouting grown man out of the chair. "Naruto's waiting for us at the training field."

"Really?" he inquired like an excited child who had just been promised candy.

Reiki turned around, braving the prospect of taking a glimpse at him. Her lip pulled back from her teeth in revulsion when she saw that his dark eyes glittered with lecherous joy and he was virtually salivating with all of the delicious sexual thoughts running through his head.

"Oh, Kami, Daddy, really?" she squeaked, almost losing her footing when he took the lead and pulled her along behind him.

"Come on, girl! There's no time to waste here. Let's go!"

...

Naruto was waiting patiently in the clearing where they had been practicing for months since deciding to harness their interesting new power. He was crouching on top of the Pervy Sage's pouting rock when the white haired man appeared with his daughter in tow. A smile tilted his lips from the positively lascivious expression covering Jiraiya's face while his wife's was twisted with unrestrained disgust. Well, at least things were back to normal. He brushed the dirt off his black pants after jumping down to the ground to greet his less than thrilled wife.

"Ready?" he asked her, while she pryed her father's fingers from her wrist.

"Yes. If I had realized the false hope of seeing us have sex with clothes on would be enough to break him out of his doldrums I wouldn't have bothered dragging him here," she muttered, rubbing her wrist. It disturbed her how enthralled he was with the concept of watching her and Naruto 'in the act' so to speak when they were training. She had not mentioned to her father that they had developed a way to increase and maintain their chakra without using sexual stimulation. It had been necessary to preserve their sex life - and their dignity - to find a better way to manipulate their chakra levels.

"I believe he dragged you here," her husband corrected her with a mischievous grin.

Reiki smiled at him as she stared into his gigantic blue eyes that crinkled at the corners with amusement reminding her of what a rascal he could still be sometimes. He had mastered the art of subtely as he had matured. Gone was the brash, loud mouthed, irritating brat who once grated on her nerves. He had become positively captivating, handsome, and totally in charge of her heart. She loved him more than she ever thought she could even when they first got married. Each day their love grew better and stronger, just like the two of them in power.

Jiraiya cleared his throat in an overly loud, overly dramatic manner to break up the sappy love fest of the googly-eyed couple in front of him. Romance had its place but right now he was ready to get on with other matters. "You said you had something to show me," he reminded his daughter who was giving him a look that could have killed him were it possible.

"Oh, yes, we do," she responded, taking her husband by the hand.

Naruto willingly followed her as they walked a few steps away and got into their familiar stance of her being held firmly in his arms with her back pressed to his chest. He kissed her neck below her ear. "You ready?"

"Yes," she replied, leaning most of her weight against him and closing her eyes. She concentrated on merging her chakra with his, feeling the energy flow into her body from his. Naruto's power surged through her body and mixed with her own chakra, making her gasp for air when the charge like electricity rushed over every nerve ending to excite and stimulate it. Forming an image in her mind of colored chakra bands of teal and orange ebbing and flowing, curling together to form purple, she felt the power flowing through her body like she was one big conductor to combine and amplify their strength.

"Just blow," Naruto whispered, pursing his lips as he watched her do the same.

Reiki felt the flame and oil flow out of her mouth like it was liquid warmth spewing forth as if she was spitting a hot beverage out of her mouth. The cool air from his mouth blew past her face like a soft breeze on a comfortable spring day. Her eyes squeezed shut tighter as she forced herself to keep blowing while he formed the fireball with his breath and hands that were moving in front of her. In her mind's eye she could see the fireball growing bigger and was alerted to its completion when his hands pressed against her belly to spur her on to the next step.

"If you start feeling strained or your chakra levels dropping too low, just stop it. We can keep practicing and building up. I know you want to impress your father, but I need you and so do our children. Don't go too far," he murmured in her ear. Kissing her on the cheek, he pushed aside his misgivings and held her tighter. "Do it."

Jiraiya watched with rapt fascination as the fireball began to move and wiggle like an egg about to hatch. The flames continued to shift until they divided and Kuruma stepped out, or what looked like Kuruma, but was made out of the flames. The fireball slowly receded, forming the fox demon's body and nine tails in flames until nothing was left except a massive creature made of fire looking as if it had escaped from the depths of hell. He gaped with slack-jawed awe as the sightless burning eyes scanned the area while the massive flaming head turned slowly from side to side.

"Oh, Kami, what have you created?" he mumbled to himself, unable to react as the beast took a step toward him.

One step, then another, then another...each successive step of the fiery nine tails became faster until he was running for the stunned Sannin. At the last minute, Jiraiya broke out of his stupor to throw up a protection barrier before the fox dematerialized into a tidal wave of flames that washed over the barrier and looked just like a flaming tsunami before it receded back to Naruto and Reiki just like a wave back into the ocean. They could have forced it; they could have broken through the barrier and the fiery demon beast would have devoured him. But that was not their intention. They had only wanted to show Jiraiya what they had accomplished. One day, this technique would be used to kill many people in one fearsome shot, and they dreaded that day.

"Reiki, baby," Naruto gasped when his wife wearily slumped against him.

"I'm okay," she assured him a croaky voice, giving him a weak smile.

"I told you not to go too far," he admonished her, picking her up into a bridal carry.

"I'm still conscious, aren't I? Did it work?" she inquired submissively laying her head against his chest while he held her in his arms. She was too tired to argue at the moment.

Naruto glanced across the charred remains of what was once a grassy clearing. He smiled when he saw her father whooping for joy and doing the most ridiculous celebration dance. If only she weren't so exhausted, she would laugh until she cried. "Yeah, sweetheart, it worked wonderfully. I haven't seen him this happy since he saw Konan naked at the bath house."

"Who? When? What did you say?" Reiki asked, her eyes huge and round as she stared up at him.

"Uh, nothing," he mumbled nearly dropping her on the ground when her eyes narrowed into a lethal glare. "I'm taking you home. You need rest."

"That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen and that's saying something. I've seen some shit in my day, let me tell you," Jiraiya babbled with zealous excitement. His ecstatic smile dropped from his face, and he became very serious upon noticing his daughter's condition. Reaching out to push her loose, long white-blond hair back from her face, he saw that her eyes were closed and she was drifting off to sleep. His deep black eyes settled on Naruto's whisker marked face. It was incredible how the boy had harnessed the demon and could use Kuruma in a totally different way now. But it was with the help of his daughter, using her strength as well. "How can you let her do this? This could kill her."

"You know how she is. Do you really think I can tell her what to do?," he inquired, raising a blond eyebrow.

JIraiya could only offer a noncommittal shrug because he knew no one could give her orders that she would follow. Although he was her father, he had never been able to tell her what to do either.

Naruto dismissed the matter of Reiki's stubbornness with a shake of his head and continued, "Besides, I would never let that happen. It was as much my chakra as it was hers. It drains her more because her body is acting as the conduit. I would never let her run so low she would die," he assured his worried father-in-law.

"You better not. Take her home," Jiraiya told him with a pat on the back. "You two did really well. That was incredible. Never use that technique unless it is absolutely necessary and there is no back up and no other course of action that can be taken. Do you understand me?"

"Completely." He agreed wholeheartedly.

~^..^~

* * *

When Reiki awoke, she was surrounded. She had a blonde at her back, a twitchy redhead in front of her, and a dog boy at her head. It was not some surreal dream including Deidara, Gaara, and Kiba; it was her husband and children. Naruto held her in his arms with her back to his chest while snoring lightly in her ear. Nariko lay in her arms despite moving and flinching, probably from bad dreams. Kitsune lay across the top of their pillows with his tummy pressed against his mother's head and his forehead against his father's. The children had still not grown accustomed to living in the new house and having their owns rooms. It had become an almost nightly occurrence for three weeks that the children would come climb into bed with them. They missed Grandma and Grandpa since they were no longer close by at all times. Unable to move and quite content in her present position, she wiggled against the husband to shut him up while holding her daughter tighter to still her tossing and turning body. Kitsune whimpered and patted her cheek while mumbling 'I love you, Mama' in his sleep. She lived for these moments when everything was perfect in her world and the whole family was happy. There was a pounding on the door that quickly shattered her basking in the warmth of the morning sun streaming through the windows and the love of her family.

"Naruto! Hey! Is this your new house? It's incredible. Can I see the inside?" Killer B yelled in his booming voice while continuing to beat on the door.

"What the hell?!" Naruto gasped, sitting bolt upright in the bed as if he had awakened from a nightmare. No. Instead he had been awakened into one.

"I don't care if he's a jinchuriki, I'm going to kill him. But not until later. I'm tired," Reiki muttered, pulling the covers over her head. She successfully covered herself and the two children as if the cloth barrier would shield them from the onslaught of noise created by B.

"If anyone could do it, I'm sure you could, dear," he said, patting her on the ass under the covers and receiving a snarl in return. Well, he wouldn't be getting any for several days. He might consider killing B himself for the forced celibacy he would have to endure. Reluctantly getting out of the bed, he did not bother to pull on a shirt and went to the door in his black sleep pants hoping the sight of a half naked man would scare B away.

"Damn! You look great! Have you been working out?" Killer B asked upon seeing the shirtless Naruto.

Great! Not only did it not deter B and make him decide to come back later, it had garnered a compliment and a stare.

"So what does Reiki look like?" B inquired receiving a scowl of disapproval and aggravation. Pushing the blonde aside, he stepped into the house and yelled, "Where's my favorite redhead?"

"Uncle B?!" Nariko gasped in disbelief, unsure if she was dreaming or awake. Sitting up, she jerked herself out of her mother's arms and threw back the covers to leap off the bed.

Reiki groaned irritably and pulled Kitsune from around her head into her arms. She snuggled him against her, placing his head below her chin. His furry ear tickled the skin under her chin when it twitched. "My baby," she mumbled sleepily, trying to get comfortable again.

"Mama? Can I go see Uncle B?" Kitsune asked, squirming in her arms.

"Of course, sweetheart," she answered with a dejected sigh, releasing her son from her embrace. She rolled over onto her other side, hugging Naruto's pillow to her body. "You'll have to do I suppose."

Reiki was dropping back off to sleep despite the noisy giggles and talking in the living room downstairs. She was exhausted. They had been practicing for weeks to build up her stamina for holding and controlling the combined chakra. She had progressed to being able to maintain it for longer lengths of time with both of them manipulating and maneuvering the fiery nine tailed demon. Unfortunately, it still left her drained and barely able to move afterward. On a battlefield that could mean her death and put the people protecting her at a distinct disadvantage while she recovered. Feeling the bed shift, she sighed when a pair of arms went around her. She put her arms around the warm body next to hers. The body was huge, being much bigger than her husband, and feeling like a mass of bulky muscle as if she were holding a bull in her arms. Sighing with irritation, she wondered what she had done in her life that was so bad it warranted that she be punished by having so many deviant men to be a part of it. Keeping her eyes closed, she settled against him knowing Killer B was perfectly harmless and just wanted her to freak out. She refused to give him, or her husband who still enjoyed the occasional prank, that pleasure.

"Naruto! There's a strange man in the bed!" she yelled, feeling B's body vibrate from withheld laughter.

"I'm not a stranger," he chuckled, hugging her briefly.

"I didn't say you were a stranger. I said you were strange," she clarified. "So are you here to ravage my body? Wear me out and leave me breathless?" she asked, trying not to giggle when his big body stiffened and he attempted to pull away. Clenching her arms around him tightly until she threatened to break his ribs, she held on until he stopped wriggling like a fish on a hook.

"Something like that," he answered, quickly adding, "But not here! Not in the bed. Not by-"

"I think you should be quiet now," she warned him, withdrawing her arms and opening her eyes. "Tell me the real reason you are here."

"Naruto asked me to come. It's been a while since I visited and you have the new house and -" He immediately halted his rambling words when he could tell she was not buying his excuse with the skeptical lift of an eyebrow.

Sighing heavily, he told her the truth. "The real reason he asked me to come was to begin Kitsune's training. He's been getting into a lot of fights lately. The child is having problems controlling his anger issues."

"He dared to do that without discussing it with me first. Really?" she grumbled tossing off the covers and launching herself out of the bed.

Killer B grabbed one of the pillows and placed it behind his head as he watched the angry woman stomp out of the room. At least he had been rewarded for his efforts by getting to see her dressed in her shorty pajamas and tiny tank top. He had not been able to tell her that he was here to work with her as well by request of her husband. He lay there contemplating what could be causing the child to act out so violently. Bullying from the other children? Kitsune's father had endured much of the same treatment, but Naruto had only been violent when necessary. Despite everything that happened to him, he had been a ridiculously happy and trusting person. As he heard her yelling at her husband followed by a loud thunk like a fist hitting a wall, it suddenly became less mysterious where the child had gotten his inability to control his anger.

...

Reiki had finally calmed down after they had shooed the children off to play while they discussed training plans with B. After her explosive fit, she instantly understood the need for his presence and debated whether or not she should indulge in a little anger management training of her own. Maybe she should funnel that anger into their next training session and allow that to fuel her; use that fury for a positive solution to her swiftly flagging chakra. A strong physical reaction to emotional stimuli seemed to by what helped considering her stamina was much better when they used more arousing techniques. Perhaps they should go back to -

"Mama."

Her thoughts were interrupted as was the conversation between Naruto and Killer B when the half fox demon, half human appeared in front of them. There were faint scratches all over his face along with a bruise on his left cheek and a nasty looking abrasion on his chin.

"What happened?" Reiki calmly asked, ignoring the shocked stares of the men sitting on either side of her. She had been lost in her own thoughts while they had carried on their conversation over her head, but Kitsune had gotten the attention of all of them.

"The kids were saying mean things again," he murmured, bowing his burnished copper colored head full of wild spikes and digging the toe of his sandal into the dirt.

"Does it hurt?" she inquired, watching his ears lay back in response to the question that had referred to ALL of his injuries. She knew it hurt; not just physically but emotionally. His pride had been damaged terribly in addition to it all. The cruelty of children knew no bounds. It had been her fondest wish he would be able to escape the taunts and hateful words of his peers. Guilt settled into her chest and made her heart physically hurt because it was her fault that he was like this: a weird half breed. Being the grandson of the Hokage and son of the future Hokage did not even keep it from happening. Nothing could stop the evil of those who acted on fright and misunderstanding.

"No," he lied, pulling at the white tips of his ears self-consciously. His head jerked up and a wide, toothy grin plastered itself to his face. "If you think I look bad, you should see the other guy!"

The adults could not help themselves. They knew it was wrong to laugh at the thought of the mess the other child must be in, but they laughed until they nearly cried from the triumphant declaration of Kitsune. Killer B could see he definitely had his work cut out for him for training the son. He had yet to breech the subject of his training with Reiki and doubted her husband had mentioned it either. For now he would leave it alone. He had no doubt there would be plenty of time in the near future to rustle up her ire and incur her wrath.


	36. Chapter 36

Thanks to my friend, Firetemplar415 who betaed this for me! I apologize for the overdue update. I believe I've proverbially bitten off more than I can chew juggling five writing projects at a time, two of them being Naruto stories. I hope you enjoy it. :D

* * *

Naruto watched his wife out of the corner of his eye. She had come a long way in her six months of training as had their son. At the beginning, he had been forced to use his shadow clones to restrain her when Killer B would provoke their son into attacking. Finally, Shikamaru and Kakashi decided to step in to assist with helping Reiki with her anger management. Kakashi volunteered to be the one to taunt her and stir up her ire while Shikamaru would talk her through the assault on her opponent rather than pummeling him sloppily in a blind fury. If Kakashi had not been such an excellent copy cat, she would have caught him by surprise and beat his ass many times because she would often go against her instructor's directions for that purpose. Occasionally, she was able to get the drop on him which always resulted in an injury. Most were deep tissue wounds that did not look bad on the surface despite the fact he was suffering from hemorrhaging organs or muscles so severely bruised he could no longer move them. Reiki would heal him afterwards so she could come back and do it again the next day. She had progressed enough that she would stop short of injuring her sparring partner no matter how much she might want to, keeping her head and control over her thoughts and body. She had been told to save the desire and ability to cause mortal injuries for the battlefield or a real fight against an actual enemy. Today she might make an exception for the man training their son.

Naruto saw her jaw tighten and winced. B had hurled Kitsune across the training area to disorient the child with the intention of seeing if he could get a grip on himself before he smacked into a tree. The boy halted his body from flipping through the air to hit the ground on all fours. Raising his head to glare sparring partner, his lips receded from his sharp teeth and there was a malicious glint in his red eyes. Excellent! He was proud of his son. Since the other kids had learned of Kitsune's new tutor, they kept their mouths shut and always gave a wide berth for him to pass in their presence. Naruto knew from experience all it took to make people leave one alone was gaining the ability to kick ass and say to hell with the names. If your opponent was going to be dead, who cares what his name was?

Reiki stayed still without moving a muscle except for the ones in her jaw as she watched the fight in front of her. Her fingers curled into fists, but she did not move any further when Kitsune's rage filled frontal attack was easily, and almost boredly, deflected by Killer B who slapped the boy away with one of his big hands. She was thankful to her incredible coaches who had instilled her with the ability to think past the rage. Little did her husband or her son's trainer know, she was busy taking in every move of the big man while planning her counter attack for a future time. They were under the mistaken impression that a silent woman was a blessing from Kami. Naruto had already forgotten the Pervy Sage's advice that a silent woman was a thinking woman, and she's usually plotting someone's death.

Naruto's blond eyebrows drew together, and he scowled with disappointment as well as apprehension. Something seemed to be a bit 'off' with his son's fighting skills today. The child seemed distracted and uninterested in taking the training session seriously. He walked toward Killer B raising his hands in a gesture of surrender so the man did not get carried away and think he was being assailed from the side. Of course, Reiki would have been the one pulling a sneak attack on him, not the boy's father.

"What is it?" Killer B asked, holding the livid child back with a big hand against his reddish-brown head.

"Stop it!" Kitsune growled, swiping uselessly at the man who was casually holding him at arm's length. "I wanna kick your ass!"

"I need to talk to my son for a minute," Naruto said, grabbing the boy by the collar to pull him away from the man who in the child's small angry mind he thought he could actually hurt. Turning his child to face him after walking away far enough to gain them a bit of privacy, his bright blue eyes looked directly into the feral red eyes of his son. Sometimes it hurt to see so much of the nine tails' in his own child. However, he reminded himself that this was _his _child and not that damn demon's. "What is it, Kit? What's bothering you?"

"You're my Daddy right?" the child questioned his father returning the earnest gaze.

"Well, yeah, of course but what does that - " He was cut off by a sharp exclamation by his son.

"The kid's say Kuruma got Mama pregnant! They say I'm not yours at all. They call me a demon. They say I'm not even human!" he bawled, covering his face with his hands as tears slid down his whisker marked cheeks that were just like Naruto's.

Reiki moved toward the two most important men in her life when she saw her son crying just before his father embraced him comfortingly. She was barred from going to them by a massive arm knotted with hard muscles that was flung out in front of her. If she had not been so annoyed, she would have laughed at the deep crimson blush that colored B's dark-skinned cheeks when he realized he had put his arm up right across her breasts.

"Um, uh...uh," he mumbled with embarrassment before moving his arm so he could self-consciously rub the back of his head as if straightening his long white braids. "Let them have a moment."

Reiki opened her mouth to speak then quickly closed it again. _Just shut the hell up and think before you speak, _Shikamaru had reprimanded her on more than one occasion. She realized that she was about to destroy a golden opportunity by opening her mouth to blurt out a smart ass remark. While those two were distracted and B had no one to spar with, this would be her chance.

"All right," she sighed with mock submissiveness, stepping back from him to increase the distance between them. _Give your opponent a false sense of security_, Lazy but Crazy Smart Ninja's words echoed in her head. Holding her hands behind her back like an innocent child, she looked around at their surroundings casually while twisting one of her braids as if she were nervous and shy. She was none of those things right now. Not even close. "Sooooo...while we wait, would you like to spar with me?"

"What? Are you serious?" Killer B laughed, surprised when her only reaction was a gentle smile. He had at least hoped for a few harsh words from her mouth that could be quite sassy and downright audacious sometimes.

"Well, if you don't want to..." She hesitated in her speech, turning as if to walk away since he seemed uninterested in a fight despite her being _very _interested in one.

"I am supposed to begin working with you next week anyway. No time like the present right?" he queried, assuming a fighting stance with his fists raised.

"Right," Reiki agreed, turning back to him with a malevolent grin on her face.

Killer B was considered a sharp-witted man who could easily pick up on the true thoughts and emotions of someone by touching them. Somehow he had missed this earlier when he had accidentally flung his arm over her chest. It had probably been due to his overwhelming embarrassment. He knew immediately by that scary smile on her face that he had fallen into a trap. Oh, well, she was just a woman. He could handle her. Hunkering down a bit to gain more leverage in his stance, he waited for her onslaught as she charged at him like an angry bull. He found it disappointing nothing had changed in her for six months because he was hoping for a real scuffle with her. His head tilted in confusion, and he was caught off guard when she put her hands out in front of her as if she were going to push open a door or something. Did she think she would just be able to knock him over and be done with it? Or was she plotting to push him across the clearing into the small hill behind them?

Reiki did neither of those things. She pressed her hands against the top of his shoulders, vaulting herself over his head in a cart-wheel. Her fingernails dug into his skin to grasp him as she swung her body down to plant her feet firmly into the small of his back. She readied herself for the inevitable fall but used the momentum she had gained by running to roll over when her back hit the ground while hanging onto her huge opponent. She flung his body as far as she could, turning over onto her belly to watch him land on his back. Jumping to her feet, she waited for the stunned man to get to his feet before she bumrushed him, grabbing him around the waist. Pushing him back several feet, she finally felt his balance shift and his footing falter so she used the simple law of motion, a body in motion has a tendency to stay in motion, to pick him up off his feet before slamming him down into the ground.

B lay in the indentation he had made in the ground without moving. Struggling to breathe, he gasped, "What in the hell just happened?"

Naruto leaned over the man, blocking out the sunlight which made an impressive golden halo around his head. "Congratulations," he chuckled, reaching down to grasp the man's hand to pull him out of the Killer B sized crater. "You just experienced one of my wife's favorite moves. I've peeled my ass out of the ground because of her more times than I care to admit."

B got to his feet, rubbing his sore neck. He was thankful for his ability to withstand damage and pain. If he was just a ninja, or just a man for that matter, her hit would have hurt like hell. "Well, Mama, that was pretty damn good. What else have you got?"

Reiki lunged forward ducking below his arms that tried to wrap around her. Pulling back her fist, she released a punch to a place that no man can withstand, not even B. She stood over him with a satisfied smile after he hit his knees with his hands tucked firmly between his legs.

"You don't fight fair," he wheezed, hoping his private parts were not permanently damaged. Although he was single and did not really have the desire to procreate, he did enjoy indulging in purely recreation activities of an intimate nature from time to time. He prayed to Kami that the evil woman standing in front of him had not taken that ability away from him.

"Nothing is fair in life sometimes," she muttered calmly as she watched him fall forward onto the ground. She was done. Turning on her heel, she began to walk away. Looking back over her shoulder, she called to her son, "Kitsune! Let's go get Nariko from school."

"Okay!" Kitsune yelled in agreement, running to catch up with his mother. He put his hand in hers, looking up at her as they walked. "Mama?"

"Yes, baby?" she returned, smiling down at him. She ran her fingers through his spiky light auburn hair.

"Did you kill Uncle B?" he asked, genuine concern drawing his eyebrows together. After seeing the man lying on the ground, twitching and writhing, he was not sure if Uncle B would survive.

"No, baby. I just hurt him a little bit," she answered although she figured Killer B would beg to differ on the little bit part.

Reiki sighed noisily regretting that she had resorted to a dirty, unfair trick to bring the man down. Looking down at her son, she knew she would be willing to do anything to keep those she loved safe. Although Kitsune was never in any danger, it had pissed her off greatly to see him being put through such rigorous training. He was only a child for Kami's sake. Naruto had warned her that one of these days, things would happen that would take Kitsune and Nariko's childhood and innocence away. Unfortunately he knew that first hand because the same thing had happened to him many times over. However, it had been highly frustrating that he would not expound on exactly what he was talking about. He only shook his head when she asked, kissing her on the forehead with the assurance that he would take care of them and keep them safe no matter what threats came their way. Threats? What threat could possibly be coming their way? She had noticed that he had been spending more time at the Hokage Tower in meetings either with her mother or several of the more powerful ninjas of the village including the ANBU. What was going on? Every time she asked, he would not tell her a thing.

"Mama?" Kitsune called, swinging their hands as they walked hand in hand.

"Hmm?" she rejoined, kicking a rock ahead of her that her son kicked as well when they reached it.

"Am I demon?" He pulled her to a stop, staring up at her expectantly with round hopeful eyes. "It is inside of Daddy. Is he inside of me too?"

Reiki took a deep breath. In a way, yes, the demon was inside of him. To avoid an uncomfortable discussion about the biological workings of how a baby is made, she simply answered, "No, honey. The kids that call you that are the demons."

"Mama?" His eyes met hers as he reached to hold both of her hands.

"What is it?" Reiki could feel the tears forming in her eyes as she looked down at her little boy who was struggling for the words to express what he wanted to say.

"I love you, Mama. I'll never let anything happen to you or Nariko or Daddy or anybody I love!" he declared, putting his arms around her waist.

"I know you won't, honey. I love you too," she murmured, the tears streaking down her cheeks. "Come on, your sister is waiting for us."

~\..'../~

"Okay. No damn dirty tricks today, do you hear me Reiki Uzumaki?" Killer B demanded, shaking his finger in her face as if reprimanding a child.

"All right, come at me with all you got," Reiki said, waving her fingers in a 'bring it on' gesture.

"This is bound to be spectacular," Naruto said to Jiraiya, elbowing his less than happy father-in-law in the side.

Jiraiya had been against this from the start. Maybe he was just being biased. The only people who had ever trained his daughter was him, her mother, and her husband. Now she had teachers coming at her from all directions. He had not been pleased after being told of the anger management lessons with Shikamaru and Kakashi. Then when he heard of her being trained by another jinchūriki, especially one who had been called the perfect jinchūriki, he had gotten angry. His daughter had been through enough training and should be concentrating on being a mother and wife. He never expressed this opinion out loud because his wife and daughter would have beaten him to a bloody pulp for being so old-fashioned. Of course most of his reasoning was based on his past mistakes and how he had never allowed Tsunade to be that since he had skipped out on them. The rashness of the young and stupid was always to be regretted later when nothing could be done to change it.

Tsunade had calmly explained to her husband time and time again how it was good for their daughter to be exposed to many different fighting styles and people with various abilities in an environment other than combat. A miscalculation or one moment of being taken by surprise could lead to her death there. At least now Reiki could learn from her mistakes and not repeat them. She knew this was best for their daughter, but it had made her begin to contemplate if they had done their child a disservice by keeping her training so restrictive. Jiraiya had insisted that if she had brains and brute strength that was all their daughter needed to defeat any foe. He had been quick to remind her that Reiki had a husband to protect her as well. What the hell was Naruto around for if not to protect his family? Was he simply a decoration in their lives? Tsunade had given up on trying to get through her husband's thick skull to make him understand the concept of broadening their daughter's scope of experience. She had come to watch the match today out of sheer curiosity to see how her daughter would perform.

Reiki and Killer B went at each other with everything they had in front of the small audience that had gathered around them. Reiki punched Killer B, using her awesome strength to off set him before she jumped to kick him in the face with a bicycle kick. She screamed when he grabbed her ankle and slammed her down onto the ground. His punch was stopped by her hands before it could contact her middle as she lay on the grass. He was immediately brought down onto his back when she grabbed him behind the knees and pulled forward as he stood over her. They continued on this way for quite a while until Reiki's stamina began to falter. They had agreed to use ninjutsu only; no chakra, no special abilities, and no punches to the privates. Finally, Killer B got the best of her, mercilessly grabbing her by the arm and leg to hold her over his head like a hard-won prize before he prepared to issue the final blow.

Naruto heard an unearthly snarling sound to his right that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He had heard that growling before and it could only come from one source. Gazing down at his son, he was unable to move or speak when he saw the tell-tale purple tendrils of chakra rising from the child's skin. It was the same color and bore the same energy pattern of the chakra that arose whenever he and Reiki combined theirs. Since Kitsune was their child and a combination of them, it was only fitting that he would produce that chakra.

Jiraiya had heard the sound as well and watched as his grandson took on a decidedly more animalistic appearance: his nails and teeth lengthened, growing more menacing in sharpness as well as appearance. He had seen the boy's father look like this many times while he learned to master each of the nine tails' forms. His eyes widened as he saw another tail emerge, then another.

"Don't hurt my, Mama," Kitsune growled in a voice something like Kuruma's but higher pitched since he was only a child.

The onlookers stared in awe as the child rushed toward Killer B in a purple blur. Naruto flashed forward in a blaze of orange to catch his wife as she fell because his son had hit the unsuspecting man like a missile, launching B backwards through the air to land on the ground several yards away with a loud 'off' being uttered from his lips. The white-haired jinchūriki sat up with a huge grin on his face. Instantly getting to his feet, he was ready when the purple ball of chakra flew through the air at him. Raising his arms, he deflected the rasengan which dissipated harmlessly due to its instability. It was still impressive the boy had even formed one and got it that far.

"Kit, stop!" Reiki yelled, her gaze intent and unwavering on her son. She motioned for the child to come to her when he looked at her.

"Why are you making him stop? This is amazing! Did you see what he just did?" Killer B asked if she were blind and had not been able to see what was happening a few yards away.

"I saw," she muttered, glaring at the man before turning her attention back to her son. "Baby, you can't do this until you're taught to control it better. You'll hurt someone...or yourself."

"That's one amazing kid you got there," B complimented, ruffling the boy's wild hair.

"How could he not be?" Naruto returned, his chest puffing out with pride. "Think about who his parents are!"

"Don't forget the grandparents!" Jiraiya yelled.

"How could we ever forget the grandparents?" he mumbled in mock aggravation. He knelt down beside his wife who was holding their son in her lap. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just didn't expect this to come so soon...to see him like this...at such a young age," she murmured, her words coming in a stilted manner while she fought to control her emotions. She kissed her son's forehead as he lay against her chest, exhausted and panting for air.

"Reiki, I know he's your baby. He's mine too," he reminded his wife, stroking his son's head. He chuckled when the boy's hair popped right back up into the unruly spikes. "But he's also...something else."

"We've always known that. Now, he's painfully aware of that as well," Reiki returned, enveloping the child protectively in her arms. This was happening because of the cruelty of the other village children. Some things never change. The child's father had been a victim of vicious taunts and hateful words. At least Kitsune had his parents to help him through it.

"We knew it was coming." Naruto took his son from his wife so she could stand up. "It was inevitable because of how he looks."

"Knowing doesn't make it any easier," she mumbled crossly, brushing off the grass and dirt.

"Let's go home," he suggested. "I believe we're all done for the day."

Reiki agreed that Naruto could not be more correct in his assertion. She was definitely done for the day and so was her son who was laying limply in his father's arms. Tomorrow would be another day for both of them to explore the wild and wonderful world of training with Killer B.


	37. Chapter 37

A feel I should add a warning about part of the contents of this chapter. I was informed by a dear friend that it was time for a lemon. Thank you Firetemplar415 for that little gem of an idea for the battle of noise and giving your stamp of approval after reading over this chapter. If you don't care too much for the lemons, you should stop reading after they arrive at the beach. Just a warning... For those of you that do like them, be happy and enjoy! :D

* * *

Inari Yamanaka moved to the podium to call the meeting of the Allied Mother's Force to order. Her daughter, Ino, and Ino's friend, Sakura Haruno, had joined her on the platform. There was a new generation of mothers getting ready to take over leadership the group. Obviously this was the purpose for calling this meeting so the new leaders could be announced.

Reiki snorted to cover a laugh when Temari's head dropped onto her shoulder. She remembered something like this happening years ago, but she had been the sleepy one. Poor Temari; the mother of five active kids and they showed no signs of stopping any time soon since she was pregnant again. Sometimes she almost felt sorry for the woman. Not so much because of all the kids but because of her randy husband who continued to impregnate her. Apparently, Temari did not put up too much of a fuss about the physical activities either. Feeling something wet on her bare shoulder, Reiki shrugged then jiggled her shoulder in an attempt to wake her snoring friend before the chronically fatigued woman interrupted Inari's speech.

"Hey, wake up!" she hissed, slapping Temari on the forehead. "You're drooling on me, and it's gross!"

"Oh, sorry," her friend mumbled, wiping the slobber from her chin as she sat up. Opening her mouth wide in a silent yawn, she groggily glanced around the room. "I'm so damn tired all the time."

"I can't imagine why," Reiki whispered, but the sarcasm came across loudly. "Have you thought about trying to NOT get pregnant?"

"What? Why?" the blond asked, a baffled expression on her face.

"Never mind," she replied, her attention going to the speaker when Ino took the podium.

"As you ladies know, we're entering a new era for our village and for our organization as well. It has always been our solemn duty to protect the children and women of this village in times of war and in times of peace as well. Our peace time activities have included taking care of the hungry and homeless, the orphans, and the struggling mothers who simply don't know where to turn sometimes. Thankfully, we have not experienced a time of war recently but we cannot let our guard down and we must be prepared. With that being said, it is time to usher in a new generation of mothers to plan and prepare for those times while keeping this organization running smoothly as we continue our charitable activities." Ino spoke as eloquently as her mother. She was not using note cards and speaking from her heart which was something her mother had always done. "I would like to give the platform to my friend Sakura who will announce our choice for our new leader."

There were murmurs among the women. They had all assumed that Ino would take over as leader of the organization. Her mother had been an excellent chairwoman so they had believed Ino was the obvious choice and the duty would naturally fall to her. With a bow and a smile, Ino moved away from the mic to allow Sakura to begin speaking.

"After much deliberation with the current leaders, we have come to a unanimous decision as to whom we would like to appoint as our next Chairwoman. This will be put to a vote. Feel free to suggest your candidate if you don't agree with our choice," Sakura said in a professional tone.

Reiki smiled at the woman. They had all come so far since the time they had first met. The woman who could have been one of her greatest enemies had instead become one of her best friends. It never ceased to amaze her how life turned out sometimes. She jumped when Temari unexpectedly flung her arms around her neck nearly strangling the life out of her after almost scaring it out of her.

"Wh-what?" she stammered, peeling her friend off of her body.

"It's you! You're the new chairwoman!" Temari exclaimed so excitedly one would have thought it was her who had been chosen. "Didn't you hear the announcement?"

"No. I guess I had drifted off in thought," she mumbled in confusion. "Me? Are you sure?"

"Reiki?" Sakura called into the microphone. "Can you come up here please?"

Reiki nervously stood to her feet which felt like lead as she moved slowly to the stage. She smiled apprehensively at the women who stood to shake her hand or hug her briefly while offering their congratulations on her way to the front. Ino caught her at the top of the steps after she walked onto the platform to join them.

"I hope you accept this position. We all think you would be really great. Actually, we never even considered anyone else," Ino admitted, giving the stunned woman a quick hug.

"Mrs. Uzumaki," Inari Yamanaka greeted her formally. "I am offering you my position as the Chairwoman of this proud organization of women. Will you accept?"

Reiki gulped hard, attempting to swallow the choking lump that had formed in her throat. She had always felt intimidated by the poised and elegant woman in front of her. How could she possibly fill this woman's shoes? She would do her best to try because she could think of nothing that she would like to do more than to protect the women and children of this village; to ensure the safety of their lives as well as doing her best to improve their lives on a day to day basis as well.

"Yes, I accept. Thank you so much for bestowing this honor upon me," she said, bowing deeply to the woman in front of her.

"Excellent, my dear. I trust you to continue our proud tradition."

"I will do my best."

~\..'../~

Naruto and Reiki invited her parents over that night to share the good news of her appointment as the Chairwoman of the Allied Mother's Force. Tsunade screamed with excitement, grabbing her daughter to hug her while their husband's watched in awe. It was always a thing of beauty to the males in their lives, no matter how awkward it may be for the women, to watch them embrace. Then the chattering like frantic chipmunks began as the mother and daughter went on and on in their excitement about what this would mean for Reiki. The word vacation caught the ear of the bored men and drew their interest.

"Vacation?" Jiraiya ventured, moving closer to the women. "A vacation to celebrate this occasion sounds perfect!"

"Reiki, why don't you leave the kids with Shizune and Iruka? You could use a vacation..." Tsunade paused, sliding a sidelong at her daughter's handsome blond husband. "And maybe a little time to get reacquainted with your husband."

"You've been living with Dad too long, Mom. His pervy ways are rubbing off on you," Naruto commented, raising a blond eyebrow at his mother-in-law who grinned ridiculously at him. Glancing at his wife, he whispered in a mock stage whisper, "Honey, your mother is scaring me."

"I don't know. I think it's a good idea. It's been a while since we've had any time to ourselves. It would be nice to take our time and enjoy sex again instead of hurrying through it before one of the children comes in on us," Reiki said thoughtfully, seriously considering the idea. She would miss her children terribly. Looking at the sexy blonde standing next to her, she realized that sometimes she missed him; and in certain ways she missed him more than she would like to admit.

"Do you really want to do this?" he asked, pulling her into his arms.

"Yes, I do," she answered truthfully, her golden eyes pleading with him silently.

"It's settled then!" her father exclaimed, clapping his hands together loudly. "I'll start planning tomorrow then. Until then, let's eat!"

~\..'../~

Umibe no Rakuen, literally translated as Seaside Paradise became their vacation destination. Upon their arrival, they would have to say it lived up to its name. Sugar white beaches stretched as far as the eye could see. The sandy shore lining the clear blue-green water was dotted with the occasional palm tree that swayed in the ocean breeze. Their rooms were on top floor of the high rise hotel which offered them an amazing view of the whole coast.

Reiki was standing on the balcony allowing the wind to blow through her hair that she had worn down for a change. She shivered from the enticingly light touch of her husband's hand on her shoulder. A smile tilted her lips as he leaned down to press a kiss to the skin of her shoulder that was bared by the spaghetti strapped sundress she was wearing. The dress was the color of the setting sun and reminded Naruto of the hideous orange jumpsuit he had worn for what seemed most of his life. However, it looked good on her with her light skin and white hair, blending nicely with her bright golden eyes that were also like the sun.

"I love you," he murmured, pulling her into his arms to kiss her soft pink lips. "You know that right?"

"Of course I do," she replied, sliding apart his royal blue kimono shirt to press a kiss to his smooth, golden tanned pectoral muscle. Looking up into his eyes that virtually glowed from being enhanced by the color of his shirt, her breath caught in her throat. She ran her fingers through his somewhat shaggy hair, gazing at him as if she were seeing him all over again for the first time. Her cute boyfriend had turned into her handsome husband. "I love you too. I'm so glad you accepted the plans my Father had for you and married me."

"Hey, what man would be stupid enough to turn down the offer of marrying a gorgeous platinum blonde with the biggest, loveliest..." His words ceased as he squeezed her breasts while rubbing his thumbs over her already stiff nipples that literally ached for his touch. "Personality."

Reiki giggled, pulling her husband's mouth down to hers for a kiss that caused a warm feeling to grow in the depths of her belly before it spread down to her thighs. Her fingers slid between the soft material of his shirt and his skin that was sun warmed and silky beneath her fingertips. She sighed with satisfaction when his tongue tentatively pushed between her lips to taste every part of her mouth.

Naruto had been a little bit buzzed from the sake he had drunk earlier, but tasting it on her tongue made him positively intoxicated - and horny. With his hands on her hips, he pushed her backwards into their room, moving slowly so he would not cause her to trip. His arms enclosed her body to hold her close to his while he cautiously made his way to the bed as his lips and tongue continued to ravage her mouth. He was not expecting the bed to be so close so when they hit it, her knees buckled and she fell while pulling him right over on top of her. They bumped foreheads, issuing simultaneous howls of 'OW!' before laughing while they rubbed their sore heads.

"Knucklehead," she giggled, massaging the red spot on his forehead.

"Wanna rub another head?" he inquired in a voice raspy with desire. He took her hand in his, pressing it to the bulge that had formed below his waist.

"Oh, yes, I do," she gasped, squeezing his hardness through the thin material of his loose blue hakama pants. Rolling over to lay side by side next to him, she slid her hand into the pants to touch him.

"Oh, sweetheart," he moaned, pushing the tiny straps of her dress down her arms. Pulling down the top of the dress, he latched on to the luscious brownish pink nipple that popped out to greet him.

Reiki groaned, burying her face in his silky hair as he alternately licked and sucked the stiff piece of flesh to cause pleasure to radiate through her body. The warm feeling in her belly had grown to an inferno that made her whole body pulsate with need. She pulled her lips from his to issue a moan when his fingers slid up her thigh pushing the dress with them. Goose-flesh covered her legs as he both tickled and aroused her with the light caress of his fingertips between her thighs. Opening her legs for him, she groaned when he pushed aside the material of her underwear to slide his fingers inside of her body.

Naruto sat up, moving his fingers in and out of her as he used his other hand to remove her underwear. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to her lower lips before sliding his tongue between them. He gently spread those soft pink lips to explore her in the most intimate manner with his tongue. His tongue tasted and discovered every inch of her womanhood including taking a deep exploration that made her squeal and pull his hair as he mimicked the motion of sex with his tongue.

Reiki writhed and moaned beneath him, biting the back of her hand to withhold anymore loud outbursts for their neighbors to hear. Her parents had a room right next to theirs. The strangers on the other side she could care less about. Pushing her hips at his face, she bit her lower lip to stifle her cries into desperate little whimpers while her body was seized by a climax that sent her into helpless spasms while pleasure rippled through her body in successive but not any less enjoyable orgasms. She greedily took his kiss, not caring and actually finding it a bit exciting, that she could taste herself on his lips. Holding onto the collar of his shirt, she rolled over sitting up on top of him. Untying the belt, she opened the shirt to glide her hands over his fabulously muscled chest before she began to place little kisses down his neck. His hands found their way into her hair as she continued the gradual but steady journey over his chest and down his belly. She pressed a kiss below his belly button while tugging on his pants. Her fingers grasped fistfuls of the material to remove the last thing separating her from her goal at the moment. She could not stop her giggle when his manhood was freed from the material to bob in front of her face at full attention.

Naruto held her head, restraining himself from thrusting as her warm wet mouth engulfed the head and she worked her way down until he was buried in her throat. He moaned, moving his hips slightly as she pulled back to the head before taking him in again. When her hand squeezed him to follow the movements of her mouth, it took every bit of self-control he could muster not to grab her head and bury himself in her throat again. She had a simply fantastic mouth; he had almost forgotten just how good it felt. Sex between them had become kind of wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am proposition to avoid any uncomfortable explanations to a wandering child. Fun like this had certainly been out of the question.

Reiki's whole body tightened when her husband moaned with pleasure, whispering her name. She could feel wetness trickling down her thighs because hearing his sounds of ecstasy was arousing her and awakening an insatiable hunger. Pondering if they would even make it to the beach, she felt his manhood pulse in her mouth and suddenly she no longer cared about baking in the sun or swimming in the surf. Sucking as she stroked, she waited for the inevitable rush of fluid into her mouth. When it came, she was ready, swallowing as much as she could but some squeezed out of the corners of her mouth and dribbled down her chin.

Naruto studied her with lusty fascination when she sat up next to him. His sexual interest was instantly reignited when he watched her use her forefinger and thumb to wipe off the white substance leaking from the corners of her mouth before sticking her fingers into her mouth to suck it off.

"Oh, honey, you're incredible," Naruto complimented, tracing her swollen lips with his finger.

"But Naruto," she purred, straddling his naked body before hovering over him on all fours. "That's just the appetizer. We haven't even gotten to the main course yet."

"Well, baby, I'm starving! Let's go!" he exclaimed, grabbing her and pushing her over onto her back while sliding into her in one quick movement.

They immediately knew they were never going to make it to the beach. They could see it from a distance while standing on the balcony during breaks between sex and that would be good enough for this beach vacation.

...

Tsunade loudly blew out the breath she had been holding. As much as she tried to ignore the noise from next door, she found it easier to ignore the fact it was daughter and son-in-law instead. They were being too damn loud for her to pretend not to hear all of the squealing and moaning. Kami! She had wondered if the boy was killing her daughter at first but if he was, what a fabulously orgasmic way to go. Growling after the latest shriek that tapered off into a howl of pleasure, she wrapped the pillow around her head in an attempt to block it all out. She felt the bed shaking next to her and hoped what she thought was going on in the very same bed was NOT happening.

"What are you doing?" she asked her husband, just a smidge apprehensive of the answer.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm horny as hell and you're just lying there. How can that not be affecting you?" Jiraiya inquired removing his hands from his throbbing member.

"I never said it wasn't," she returned, grabbing his hand and shoving it between her thighs that were hot and slick with her arousal.

"Damn," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her lips. "Well, instead of lying here suffering why don't we have our own fun? You are my wife after all and you are -"

Tsunade cut him off when she smashed her lips against his to push him down on his back. She immediately mounted him like a prize stallion impaling herself with his hard member. Rocking her hips slowly, she sat up to strip off her nightgown that separated his hands from her sensitive nipples that needed his touch.

"Oh, yes!" she cried out, moving faster. The young people weren't the only ones who should be allowed to have this much fun.

...

"What is that sound?" Reiki panted upon hearing the screech from the other side of the wall. She leaped off the bed to find her clothes before her husband seized her wrist to stop her.

"NO, don't you dare!" he admonished her, pulling her back into the bed. Not only was he not going to allow her leave him, he also remembered what happened the last time she heard her mother's cries and barged into the room. "Have you forgotten Tanzuka Quarters? Remember what you saw in the room that day?"

"Are you saying my parents are having sex?" she asked innocently as if the concept were unacceptable and totally unfathomable.

"Well, yes, dear I am. Listen," he whispered in her ear after pulling her close.

They both began to giggle after listening to the grunts and growls that sounded like they were coming from vicious animals.

"Oh, it's so gross," she chuckled, kissing her husband briefly on the lips.

"Yeah, grown ups having sex. And not just any grown ups but parents!" he added with a laugh, stopping when his wife rolled her eyes and face palmed him with her hand. "What?"

"What do you think we are, Blondie? We're grown ups and parents too!" she exclaimed with a laugh when he flipped her over onto her back.

"Oh, yes, and you are one hot Mama. You are a mother I'd really like to fu-" His proclamation was cut short by a scream of 'YES' from next door.

"Oh, Kami preserve us all," Reiki moaned, wrapping her arms around her husband's neck as he hovered above her. She quickly followed that up with another moan for a different reason when her excited and ready husband entered her body.

...

"I'm surprised they don't have more children the way they go at it," Jiraiya complained, holding his wife in his arms as they both recovered from a mind numbing, heart stopping orgasm.

"Jealous?" she taunted, sitting up to look at him. She kissed him gently, running her fingers through his incredibly thick white hair. Pressing tender kisses to his neck, she made a trail down to his smooth and well muscled chest.

"No," he grumbled, inhaling sharply when her tongue darted out to lick over his nipple.

"You shouldn't be. You can certainly hold your own in the bedroom," Tsunade complimented. Her fingers enclosed his manhood that instantly began to harden again from her touch.

"Speaking of holding things," he groaned, pushing himself into her hand. His palms pressed against her huge breasts, caressing the silky skin before his fingers moved over to her hardened nipples and tweaked them. "You're not going to be able to walk by the time this vacation is over."

"Don't threaten me, Mister," she chided lightly, sighing when he pulled her over into his lap. "Just show me and make it a promise."

...

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, banging his fist on the wall. "Quiet down over there. Some people are trying to sleep!"

Reiki dissolved into laughter when her father issued a loud curse on the other side of the wall.

"The hell you are! We can hear what you're doing!" he hollered back accusingly, punctuating his sentence with a grunt.

"Ugh," Reiki muttered, an expression of disgust twisting her face. Grabbing her husband, she pushed him against the headboard of the bed as she positioned herself on top of him to settle into his lap. She purposely pushed the headboard into the wall with each stroke, making a loud banging sound to irritate her parents that was as satisfying as the banging she was receiving.

...

"Damn, kids," Jiraiya grumbled crabbily. "Irritating as hell."

"I can make my woman scream louder than yours!" Naruto yelled just to have a shriek from his wife pierce the air soon after as if on cue.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I can make my man scream like a twelve-year-old girl!" her mother yelled, making her laugh.

"Oh, Kami, Mom! Is that really something to brag about?!" Reiki exclaimed. She was unable to hold back a cry of pleasure that her husband elicited from her when he bucked his hips under her.

"Do you have any idea how freaking weird all of this is?" her husband asked her, holding her by the hips as he pushed into her with long, vigorous strokes.

"This feels so good I'm not really thinking about the other weirdness going on. Besides, have you forgotten who my father is?" she asked, covering his mouth with hers to stifle a loud moan from both of them. Although at this point, keeping the noise down really did not matter. The only thing more shocking than the conversations and strange little battle going on was that their neighbors on the other sides of them had not complained of the noise yet.

~\..'../~

The fun and games along with the witty banter had been exceedingly entertaining last night while caught up in the moment of great sex. Facing her parents in daylight the next morning was something quite different. Sitting down at the table with her parents who beamed at her with silly grins, she avoided their twinkling eyes as she felt the heat of a blush creep across her cheeks.

"See, dear, I told you she would be glowing," Jiraiya remarked, sliding a glass of orange juice over to his daughter. "Here, baby. You need this to give you energy after last night."

"Oh, Kami, Daddy," she muttered, picking up the glass to drain it of its contents. Unfortunately her father was correct in his statement. She did need nourishment to recover from her strenuous physical activities that had lasted all night long. She had left her husband sleeping to come downstairs to have breakfast with her parents. The soft notes of cheery whistle met her ears and she turned to see her husband strutting toward the table.

"You sure are happy this morning, Naruto," Tsunade commented casually, sipping her hot tea.

"How could I not be? I'm married to the most fabulous and sexiest woman in the world," he complimented, kissing his wife on the top of her head before sitting down.

"Yeah, so we heard," his father-in-law stated in a serious tone. His wife however was not able to keep it together and choked on her tea before she could stifle her giggle.

Reiki rolled her eyes but stayed silent hoping this conversation would not get anymore uncomfortable or awkward.

"Wow, Son, you're really good. I've only heard noises like that in the animal kingdom and never from a human being," Jiraiya said, watching his daughter with amusement when she slammed her forehead down on the table. "Oh, come on, baby, just calm down. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Besides, you are my daughter. It's about time you let your guard down and let your inner pervert show just a bit. It made me quite happy."

"I bet it did," she moaned pathetically, raising her head to look at her father.

"Quit worrying about being so damn prim and proper and embrace who you really are," he encouraged patting her hand that was lying on the table.

"But I can't. I'm the leader of the Allied Mother's Force now. I have to act a certain way. There's an image to uphold," she argued, taking the cup of tea her mother offered her.

"That's true," Tsunade agreed. "However, what you do behind closed doors is none of their business. Despite what some people like to think," she began, giving her husband an open glare of hostility. "You don't have to shout out 'I'm a super pervert!' or make a public display of your tendencies. Or write about family members in a book."

"That's true," Naruto added, putting his arm around his wife's shoulders. "What she does is reserved just for me."

Reiki gave her husband a tight smile before pressing a kiss his lips. The touch of his lips to hers instantly caused her to forget her embarrassment as desire overtook her mind. The kiss became more urgent and little disconcerting for her parents who they had totally forgotten about.

"You two go back to your room. We'll have room service deliver your breakfast...and lunch," Jiraiya suggested, watching them with a leering gaze. "At least come out of hiding for dinner."


	38. Chapter 38

I have to give a shout out to my beta, Firetemplar415. He was an invaluable sounding board who helped me bounce around ideas to get this chapter written. By the way, this is not an epilogue - this is not the final chapter.

* * *

_Five years later..._

Naruto sat at the table with his friends who were already half-lit, mindlessly swirling the sake in his cup. This was supposed to be a celebration. Lady Tsunade had just informed him she would be stepping down as Hokage and turning the mantle of leadership over to him. Why wasn't he happier about it? His lifelong dream was about to come to reality when he takes over as the leader of the village. Maybe he was still in shock. Glancing around the bar and at the faces of his drunk friends, he realized he should not be here. He should be at home celebrating with his wife. At this thought, a lascivious grin turned his lips upward. The biggest and best surprise his life had ever offered him had come in the form of his wife. Allowing his mind to wander back to that day, the very first time he had seen her, wrapped in nothing but a towel outside the bath house, his smile only grew along with something else.

"Are you going to drink that or just play with it?" Rock Lee asked, swiping at one of the cups that danced in his vision. He missed.

"You would know a lot about playing with things, now wouldn't you?" Naruto shot back, draining the cup of its contents.

The last thing Lee needed was another drink. He had just stopped complaining about his lack of sex complete with a rant about excessive masturbation. With a shudder, Naruto considered himself to be doing them all a favor by drinking the sake because none of them wanted to have that mental image stirred up again with more bitching from bushy brow.

"So why aren't you happier about this?" Shikamaru inquired as if he had read his friend's thoughts. There was no need to be clairvoyant though to figure out what the man was thinking by the expression on his face.

"Just shaken up a bit. It's unexpected. I'm - " He cut himself off before he uttered the word 'frightened.' He would not dare talk about this around his friends. With his wife he could admit his innermost thoughts; around these chuckleheads it would make him seem weak...plus they would never forget it and razz him about it constantly. They might have grown older and some matured more than others but they still indulged in numerous juvenile moments just by virtue of being men.

"Yeah, well, have another drink and relax," Haku encouraged him, filling the reluctant blonde's cup. "Where is your wife anyway?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Naruto grumbled good-naturedly. He knew the man was still hung up on his wife.

Haku had become quite the lothario of the village romancing every woman possible only to leave her in a puddle of tears later. The feminine man had developed quite the fan girl following over the years which had shocked them all. Joining forces with Kakashi and Sai, they had created their own sort of single man's club since all of their friends were married. All three were also devotees of the village penman of perversion who met with them once a month to take notes on their latest exploits. They had even gone so far as to begin indulging in reconnaissance missions to other villages for their dirty minded sensei of sex. Rock Lee was the proud owner of a novel autographed by not only the author but the three men who inspired it.

The other men were too busy being husbands and fathers to indulge in such nonsense as the perpetual bachelors. Naruto would be the last one of their group of friends to rise to a position of power and the ultimate power at that. Shikamaru had officially given up his position of head teacher at the academy to take over as the Head General of their ninja squads. He would be the Hokage's second in command in ruling power, first in command military wise. Kiba was in charge of the Canine Corp, a new undertaking to train and use dogs not only for fighting but for recon in addition to search and rescue missions. Chōji had become the lead trainer in helping ninja's to harness their brute strength to improve their taijutsu. Sometimes they all wondered what they were gearing up for since the village had been at peace so long. Naruto insisted they had to be ready. For what no one dared to question.

"Raise your glasses men," Shikamaru announced to break the heavy atmosphere that had fallen upon the inebriated festivities. He stood up to offer an official toast to his friend and soon to be Hokage. "To our new Hokage, may his leadership be good and just, strong as an ox yet gentle as a butterfly."

At this the men tittered like twelve-year-old girls. Not to be daunted or insulted, Shika cleared his throat and kept on going. He extolled the virtues of his friend, making the blonde blush violently.

"For a man who usually doesn't say much, why did you start now? Dude, shut up so we can drink already!" Kiba finally interrupted after the toast had become a long speech.

"Thanks for making good on all of those annoying declarations of _I'll be Hokage someday!_" Chōji said, receiving agreement from everyone at the table.

Naruto laughed and raised his glass along with everyone else before they all enjoyed a short silent moment and a long drink.

Meanwhile, across town in the tea house, their wives were busy discussing other things over a _special _tea. Sakura had smuggled in a bottle of alcohol with which to lace their drinks. They were all ladies of the village now and would not (could not actually) be caught in a bar because it would be absolutely scandalous. Despite that, they still enjoyed the occasional nip. At least they weren't getting stinking drunk like their husbands.

"Hey, you remember your bachelorette party?" Sakura asked, adding a bit more of the clear booze to her freshly poured cup of tea.

"How could I forget?" Reiki questioned her with a smile, sliding her cup over to the woman for a splash.

"That was the most fun I've had ever had," Ino sighed with the memory.

"It's also the night you officially fell for Chōji," Temari piped up, taking the flask from Sakura under the table. For the first time in years, she was not pregnant or nursing a baby and thrilled to be able to join in when the liquor was passed around. "What was it about him anyway?"

"His big - " The nostalgic blonde began to be cut off by Sakura.

"Sausage?" she offered with a wink.

"Weenie?" Shizune cut in, making them all laugh.

"Weenie? Who says that?" Reiki chuckled, drinking the whole cupful of spiked tea in one big gulp. "After having three children, I would have thought you would be over calling a penis something like that."

"Heart, you perverts!" Ino yelled, receiving multiple glares from the patrons surrounding them. She bowed and apologized while the most striking shade of crimson covered her face to her blond hairline and the tips of her ears.

"Yeah, right!" they all returned in unison.

"Why don't we have another slumber party?" Sakura suggested, snatching the flask from Reiki after she had just refilled her teacup.

"Seriously? Aren't we a little too old for that?" Reiki snapped, retrieving the flask from the greedy pink haired woman.

"You're never too old for fun," she countered, holding out her hand this time. She stuck her tongue out at the platinum blonde when she relinquished the precious liquid they were all enjoying immensely.

"Apparently you're never too old for a lot of things," she rejoined, ignoring the childish insult. Feeling a change of subject was in order, she questioned the ever quiet Hyūga heiress, "Hinata, weren't you just engaged to Shino?"

"Yes, I was," she replied with a blush on her cheeks.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Sakura gasped, slapping her forehead as if to put her fuzzy brain into gear. "Then a bachelorette party is in order!"

"Watch that...you're forehead is already big enough," Ino warned, illiciting another gale of laughter from their tipsy group.

"We could have a party at my lake house," Hinata offered quietly, blushing when they all turned their curious eyes on her.

"Sakura, remember, this needs to be a party fitting of a princess," Reiki reminded her as the woman began furiously scribbling notes.

"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled, adding, "Says one princess about another."

"Please, Sakura," Hinata pleaded, worried what the legendary party girl might do. Despite being married with children in addition to being the hospital director and the vice-chairwoman of the Women's Alliance, she still had her wild side.

"Don't worry! It will be great!"

~^..^~

"So how was it?" Naruto inquired when his wife walked into their bedroom just after eleven. He already knew how it was because he along with the rest of his crew had been watching from their hiding places in the trees around the Hyūga lake house. At the moment, he just wanted to hear it from his wife.

"It was nice," she answered, sitting his lap without offering further details.

The evening had started off as a very formal, almost boring event. The women had been escorted by handsomely dressed waiters to tables set for a stately dinner for proper ladies. After a courtly dinner fit for a queen, the after dinner drinks were brought out. Once the women had a few drinks in them to loosen up, the music began and so did the dancing. Clothes stayed on and bodily contact was limited to the chaste amount required for dancing. Once the husbands lurking outside were sure nothing lewd would happen, they decided to go home.

"Oh, yeah? How nice?" he asked, tracing the deep v-neck of her purple kimono.

"Nice. Disappointingly enough, no one lost their clothes or violated their marriage vows," she joked, kissing him briefly on the lips.

"Ah, so sorry to hear that," he responded without masking his insincerity while untying the belt of her dress.

"I'm not. I'm too old for that crap, you know that," she returned, feigning annoyance as she pressed her palms to his bare, well-built chest. "I'm a lady now."

"Yes, yes you are," he agreed, pushing the heavy garment over her shoulders to reveal her breasts.

"They're already decorating the village for the ceremony. It looks quite nice. Are you nervous?" she inquired, her voice wavering when he squeezed her breast.

"Of course. But right now I'm something else. Stop talking," he mumbled, covering her mouth with his.

"Should we do this? You'll be tired in the morning," she told him between kisses.

"It will be a quickie," he assured her, pushing her over onto her back.

"It's never a quickie with you," she laughed, assisting him with undressing her.

"I've never heard you complain," he teased, kissing her neck.

"And you never will. Oh!" she gasped when he entered her wanting body.

"Shut up, please, so I can make love to you. The next thing I want to hear out of you is a scream."

Reiki moaned into his ravenous kiss as he pushed into her. She loved it when he made her scream.

~...~

Konoha was over ran with the color orange the next day. Banners, streamers, hand-made signs - all were in the hideous color which only looked good on the fruit it was named for. Reiki stared out of their bedroom window overlooking the village while her nervous husband finished getting dressed.

"Honey, how do I look?" Naruto asked, walking out of the bedroom dressed in his usual attire of black pants and a black t-shirt.

Reiki turned to look at him, momentarily taken aback by how much he looked his father. She stared at him in gape mouthed awe, unable to move at first. Tears stung her eyes and ran down her face. His parents would be so proud. She knew she was incredibly proud of him.

"Why are you crying?" he inquired, smiling at her. Long ago he had come to the conclusion he would never understand her. Loving her alone had been enough to help him deal with her strange and perplexing actions throughout their marriage.

"Oh, I've got a present for you!" she exclaimed, rushing past him to go to their closet.

Naruto had expected a lecture for wearing something so casual that he wore everyday to his own Hokage ceremony. At the moment, he was content watching her behind wiggle as she dug through stuff in their closet.

"Aha!" she shouted with such vigor it made him jump. She turned holding a large box wrapped in white paper and covered with orange swirls. Shoving the box into his gut hard enough to make him grunt, she offered him the present with an excited, "Here! Open it!"

Naruto sat down on the bed after being assaulted with the present by his overzealous wife to open it. He chuckled a bit when he saw her virtually vibrating with excitement. He had not see her this hopped-up about something in a while. His eyes hovered over her breasts that jiggled with her antsy movements. He really liked her enthusiasm. If only they had time to...

"Sweetheart, please! Just rip it open!" she exclaimed impatiently while he sat and stared at her instead.

"Okay, okay," he chuckled, tearing the paper viciously. "I don't see what could be so...exciting."

Naruto dropped the box onto the bed to lift out the sleeveless robe she had bought for him. He started from the black flames at the bottom, moving his gaze upward to the red that faded into orange then yellow before turning white at the very top at the shoulders of the garment.

"It's amazing. I love it. Thank you, Rei -" He was immediately cut off by her lips covering his.

"You're going to be the best Hokage this village has ever had," she whispered, hugging him tightly.

"Don't let your mother hear you say that," he wheezed, hoping she would release her grip just a little. When she did, he breathed in loudly. Holding her beautiful face in his hands, he kissed her gently on the lips. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she replied, kissing him again.

"Hey, lovebirds! We don't have time for that crap!" Jiraiya yelled, walking into the bedroom.

"Dad!" Reiki screamed. "What if we were - "

"The door was open," he defended himself, never breaking his stride as he walked across the room to hug them both. "And you probably would have been had I not arrived when I did. Pervert! There are children in the house and one is almost a teenager!"

Reiki rolled her eyes and walked away from her father and husband. The irony was not lost on her that he called her a pervert. She went to the closet to retrieve the robe she had specially designed for herself that was like Naruto's but in the colors of purple, teal, and white.

"It's lovely," her mother complimented, helping her straighten the robe over the white kimono top and short white obi pants she was wearing.

"Rokudaime, let's go!" Jiraiya bellowed, tucking his son-in-law under his arm to lead him from the bedroom. "There's a whole lotta people and one hell of a party waiting for us!"

~...~

Once at the ceremony, Naruto was on stage with his mother-in-law waiting for the proceedings to begin. Reiki was seated down front with her father and children along with other very important guests to the village for the joyous occasion. Gaara sat beside her, holding her hand while her daughter sat on her other side with Killer B's arm tucked protectively around her and her little brother Kitsune on the other side of him. All of the of the other jinchūriki's were in attendance as well. The whole village except for those guarding the entrance and the perimeter of Konoha were all there. Surrounded by family and friends, this could not be a happier day for Naruto.

"Are you ready?" Tsunade whispered, after covering the microphone with her hand.

"Y-yes," he answered, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants. His eyes met his wife's and he smiled a wide silly grin when she blew a kiss to him.

"Get that stupid look off of your face," the fifth Hokage admonished him. "This is a serious occasion."

"Yes, sir, I mean, ma'am...sir," he gushed nervously, saluting her to which he received a stinging glare.

"Stop it!" she hissed, barely keeping the smile from her face when he grew more flustered. When he began visibly trembling, she gave into the grin. "Naruto, you'll be fine. It's okay. You already know all of these people...there's no strangers here. As a leader you have to remain calm under any circumstance."

"Can we just do this? I hate all these formalities and ceremonious sh - "

Tsunade raised her finger to shush him. "And a leader chooses their words carefully. Don't prove to me in the next five minutes I've made a mistake by turning this village over to you."

"I'm just nervous," he countered defensively.

"Let's begin."

Reiki never heard a word her mother said because she was too busy lost in reminiscing about the man who was becoming Hokage. A hint of a smile curved her lips when she remembered the irritating, loud, and extremely rash fourteen year old she had met over twelve years ago. Ten years of marriage, two children, and many happy and sad memories had accumulated between the two of them. Recalling their first sexual encounter caused her to blush violently which warranted the attention from the man holding her hand.

"What are you thinking about?" Gaara asked, his breath tickling her ear. A devilish smile tilted his lips when she shied away from him and blushed a darker shade of red. "Really? Here? Now? You're thinking about that?"

"I was just thinking about a lot of things. Remember the first time I met you," she chuckled, nudging him with her elbow when his face suddenly matched the color of his hair. "You do!"

"Shut up!" he hissed back in a whisper. "Pay attention to what's going on."

"Mama, shhhh!" Nariko shushed her mother and second favorite jinchūriki. Unfortunately, B had stolen that title from Gaara when he spent so many years in the village tutoring her younger brother and assisting her mother with defining her skills and focusing her power. He had also helped her tremendously with becoming a strong kunoichi of the village, proudly carrying on the tradition set by her grandmother, Tsunade.

Naruto wished he could be with his wife and friends. Whatever was going on down there seemed to definitely be more entertaining than what was happening here. As much as he loved his mother-in-law, she had a tendency to be a bit long-winded and pretentious on occasion. This was one of those occasions. Although it was befitting of such an event, he would have preferred a simple and fun dinner with those closest to him. While his mother-in-law continued her decorous speech, he allowed his mind to wander back to the past. His eyes fastened themselves to his wife as he recalled an event that occurred not long after she had moved in with him into that ramshackle little apartment of his.

_Naruto snuggled into Reiki, shamelessly nuzzling his face between her breasts. He did not know if she was too sleepy to slap him or if she liked it; either way, he was thrilled that she was letting him do it. He loved her already and knew she cared about him quite a bit. She seemed to be the only person, especially the only female, who took him seriously - about anything._

_"Reiki?" he called, not sure if she was asleep yet._

_"Mmmmm?" she groaned sleepily, wrapping her arms around him tightly to draw him closer to her. She liked the way he felt in her arms._

_Naruto could not speak momentarily due to being crushed between her massive breasts. Heat enveloped his body and sweat beaded on his forehead and upper lip. Resisting the overwhelming temptation to push up her nightgown and do something to ease the ache between his legs, he pulled his head back so he could not only breathe but see her face as well. They had not yet had sex, but it was definitely not from his lack of wanting it._

_"Do you believe I'm going to be Hokage someday?" he inquired, wanting to kiss her pouty pink lips. She was even more pretty when her face was relaxed in a drowsy state._

_"Of course I do," she responded, kissing him on the cheek before opening her eyes to look at him._

_Naruto bit his lower lip, anxiously waiting for her to continue. He held her firmly as she slid her finger down his cheek while she held his inquisitive gaze._

_"You'll be a great leader. You're a goofball now but you'll grow out of it," she teased, giggling lightly when he blushed dark red. "I have faith in you that you'll accomplish everything you say you will."_

_"In that case, I want you to know that I'll be a good husband and father," he told her, smiling broadly. His smile gradually dropped into a frown as she shook her head and lowered her eyes from his._

_"No, you won't," she murmured, before returning her golden eyes to his. "You'll be a __**great**__ husband and father."_

Naruto was sure he was smiling like a fool because his cheeks hurt. He did not care. His wife often reminded him that he had accomplished the promise of being a great husband and father. Now he had successfully achieved the last and most important promise that he had made to himself: he had become the Hokage of Konoha.

Without warning, masked ninjas appeared at the edges of the crowd, surrounding them. The dull hum of whispered conversations among the throng of people immediately ceased. Fear became a stifling force as everyone sat in silence staring at the menacing men who had suddenly appeared. Jiraiya stepped into view in the center aisle, lighting the firework he held in his hand.

"Tsunade, I love you dear but this is a time for celebrating. For laughs and excitement - " He was interrupted by the whistle of the firework as it whizzed into the air and exploded above their heads. "This is a party, not a funeral!"

The ninjas took off their masks revealing themselves to be members of a traveling acrobat group that Jiraiya had hired and not enemies that had come to attack them. They threw their hands into the air, filling it with confetti that made it look like a Technicolor snowstorm.

"Your mom is going to kill your dad," Gaara said to Reiki as if she didn't already know.

"Isn't it wonderful?!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, releasing his hand to run to the stage to greet her husband with a kiss.

"Congratulations, Naruto, you're Hokage now," Tsunade announced, the aggravation showing on her face as she carefully placed the hat upon his head to make it official.

"Don't hurt him too much," he requested of his mother-in-law. "Besides, this is more my style anyway."

Tsunade looked over the crowd that was out of their chairs and clearing them out of the way for the acrobats to perform. Music started from somewhere and some couples began to dance. More fireworks exploded and riotous laughter erupted from various places in the crowd. She allowed the smile to turn up her lips as she watched the mass mayhem. He was right. This kind of ceremony to herald in the advent of his leadership was definitely more suited to him: loud, disorderly, and just a tad annoying...but fun. Sighing loudly with resignation, she realized she should have never bothered to try to plan such a strict and conventional ceremony for one who was going to be such an unconventional leader but a great one. He better be a great leader - or she would kill him.


End file.
